“Very nice.”
And I don’t know what to say. But I can’t be imagining this chemistry between us. It feels too tangible to be only in my imagination. Perhaps I should investigate a messy rebound elsewhere. Sex with someone who doesn’t have such a complicated life and hopefully has never hired my grandmother as their housekeeper. It’s worth a thought or two.
“Haven’t seen any lights on there.” He nods to the place next door. A big old wooden three-story house painted navy blue, with windows in the attic and a deck with a fancy hot tub. “You know anything about it?”
“Apparently, it’s a pricey rental vacation home. Grandma said it was packed the last two summers, but business has been slow this year.”
He grunts and drinks more beer. Then he asks, “What’s in your car?”
I cock my head.
“You said it was full. So, what did you consider important enough to bring out here?”
“Well…there are the obvious things, like clothes and skincare and my favorite books. Lots of books actually,” I say. “The only things I took from the apartment were a dinner set I got from a potter back in Phoenix, these cool chunky vintage wine and water glasses that have a suspended bubble in the base, and some pieces of art. I swapped website builds for paintings a few times.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah.” I take a sip of beer.
“What’s your dominant feeling about your ex right now?”
“Are you turning psychic counselor?”
“Yes. And I’m sensing a whole lot of anger coming from you.”
“Eh,” I say. “He kicked me out with the rent paid, the fridge full, and the utilities up to date. I trusted him and actively madehis life better. Got him organized and turned his bachelor pad into a home. And in the end, he treated me like shit.”
“What an asshole.”
I frown. “I don’t disagree with you. It has occurred to me though that maybe I shouldn’t have taken on such a mothering role.”
“You think you did too much?” he asks.
“Choosing someone in his late twenties who still sleeps on a mattress on the floor wasn’t smart of me. It’s not like he didn’t have the money to buy furniture. He just couldn’t be bothered, and his work always came first. Such a curious mix of slacker and corporate fiend.”
“Mm.”
“What do you think?”
“Finding someone who matches your wants and where you’re at in life looks hard as fuck.”
I nod and sip my beer. “Can I tell you something awful?”
“Please do.”
“I took the TV remote and the plate from inside the microwave when I left. Just to mess with him.”
“Junebug.” He raises a brow. “I salute your saltiness.”
“Thank you. It was juvenile, but you can’t say he didn’t deserve it,” I say. “I knew a girl in college who got cheated on. She put shrimp in the curtain rods in his dorm room.”
“Whoa. That would smell so bad. My brother once knew this girl who…”
“What?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing. Did he make you happy at the start? Your ex?”
“I thought I was. But now I’m not so sure. It might have just been high hopes and hormones.”
