A rule was a rule. The rule was straining. Each time we didn't talk about it, the feeling got harder.
I closed my eyes against his shoulder, letting him hold me.
I didn't say it because it would mean I had admitted that I was catching feelings.
But it was happening.
I closed my eyes a little tighter.
He stayed.
He was up before I was. When I came down the hall to the kitchen, the coffee was already on. A plate of toast sat on the table, cut diagonally. Beside it lay the cephalopod book Bonnie had left there the night before.
Bonnie was at the table. She was eating cereal. She was wearing her aquarium shirt — the one she had insisted on for the third time this month because Beau was taking her to the aquarium today.
He was taking her because she had asked, stating them as if they were already on the calendar.
"Have a good shift, Mom."
"Have a good aquarium tour, baby."
"Aren’t you coming?" he asked.
"I have a double shift today."
"Mmm…" She didn't look up from the cereal. She was registering the fact and putting it away.
"I'll come for lunch if I can."
"Mmm…"
Beau was at the counter, pouring coffee into a travel mug. He held the mug up to me. "For you."
I took it and kissed his cheek. I kissed the top of Bonnie's head.
Half Past was the same. The bar, the regulars, and the afternoon were the same.
I checked my phone seven times in an hour. Kit had caught me several times. He was holding the bar towel up to his mouth to hide the laughing.
"Sabrina. Again today?”
"Don't, Kit."
"You are checking your phone."
"I'm not."
"You are checking your phone for a man you’ve told me, on three separate occasions, wasn't your boyfriend."
"Kit."
"I'm only saying."
"I'll get you fired, Kit."
"You can't fire me."
"I'll write a letter to the manager."
