She sent it days ago, but I’ve spent more time staring at it than anything else since I first opened it.
I sense Carey before I feel his hand slide around my waist from behind. “Are you gonna reply this time?” he asks, perching his chin on my shoulder.
“She doesn’t deserve it.”
“Then stop looking at it.”
I lean my head against the side of his. “I don’t mean to, but it just doesn’t feel real.”
“That she knows?”
“That she knows and I don’t feel anxious about it.”
Carey rubs my chest. “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“Maybe… Or maybe it’s that the more people who know, the less the chance I have to be the one to tell my parents about it.”
“Tek, thats—”
“I know, I know.” Reaching up, I run my fingers through Carey’s hair then rest my hand on the back of his neck. “It’s not them knowing that worries me—the confrontation is inevitable at this point. If my mother calls me, or shows up here already fired up, I can deal with that. But it’s the switch in her that I’m trying to avoid. Sitting down, trying to be a reasonable adult doesn’t work with her. She’s the parent, and I’m a child till the day I die. It doesn’t matter that I’m thirty-four. I mean, it’s why my brother ran away.”
Carey’s hand swiftly grabs my jaw as he playfully twists me to look at him. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Why not?” I smirk back at him. “It’s worked out so far for both of our brothers. Why couldn’t it work for us as well?”
“Because that's not you.”
“But it’s easier.”
Carey shakes my chin. “But you didn’t run two months ago. When things were the hardest, you stayed behind and held the shop together. You worked your ass off to keep your clients happy and the business running.”
“I could only do all that because I had you.”
His hand slips down to rest on the kitchen bench. “But you didn’t want me, remember?”
“I didn’t want you, because Ididwant you.”
“What are you trying to say?” Carey asks, brushing his nose against mine.
“That you’re a pain in my ass.”
“Uh-uh-uh,” he tuts. “I wanna hear you say it.”
“You’re the worst.” I try to kiss Carey but he pulls back an inch.
“Say it.”
“I couldn’t have run the shop without you.”
“Whilst I love hearing it, what I really want is for you to tell me when you first noticed me.”
“When you bought me the slippers.”
“Oh.” He leans back in. “Was it that early?”
My lips skim over his as I nod.
“So when was the first time you… You know?”
