Honestly, I’m damn proud of that piece.
“I bet Gideon loved it.”
“He hasn’t seen it.” Her eyes jump to mine in surprise. “It’s for you. Now, it’s up to you to share it.”
“Thank you so much.” Willow sets it against the wall on the counter so she can stare at it. “I know exactly where I’ll hang it.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
She turns back to me and bites her lip. “Can we maybe just start over?”
“Hi, I’m Lena. It’s nice to meet you.”
Willow laughs, and her shoulders relax, and I think everything is going to be okay.
“How is it going with Gideon?” she asks me as she grabs a rag and some cleaner and starts to scrub the countertop.
He’s everything I’ve ever wanted in my life, and I don’t have any idea how I’m going to leave him.
“It’s going well.”
“He mentioned that he’s training you?”
“Yeah, I pretty much want to slash all his tires at least once a day, because holy shit, it’s a lot of work.”
She barks out a laugh, making me grin.
“I’ve heard he’s tough.”
“He’s a freaking gorgeous monster. But I’ve lost a few pounds, and I could probably hold my own against a really bad mugger.”
Willow smirks, and I nibble my lip.
“Okay,” I confess, “it feels good to know that if something bad went down, I’d be able to put up more of a fight. Because let me tell you, feeling helpless sucks ass.”
“I’m glad he’s training you. And the rest of it? I see the look he gets on his face when he talks about you. You’re not just roommates over there.”
I sigh, trying to decide how much I can tell her. Sure, she’s being super nice to me right now, but I’m not good at trusting.
“I get that it’s none of my business.” She holds her hands up and then pulls new ingredients out of the fridge. “You don’t have to tell me anything at all. I’m going to build a couple of lasagnas. Do you want to stay for dinner?”
“Um—”
“Gid will swing by here when he and Ry get back, so we can just inform him that he’s staying. He loves lasagna.”
“I mean, that’s a few hours away. I can go and come back—”
“Stay.” Willow sighs and reaches out to take my hand. “Please stay. I’d like to chat and get to know you better, and I promise not to be a bitch.”
“I, too, will do my best to keep my bitch on a leash.”
She snorts and walks back to the fridge. “We should drink wine while we do this.”
“Wine sounds great.”
Before long, we each have a glass of red, and I’m helping to assemble a lasagna.
“You’ve really never done this before?” she asks me.
