Page 80 of Something Like That

He shook his head and stepped into the foyer. Pulling his coat off, he hung it in the front closet and then kicked off his shoes. He grabbed the envelopes from his pocket, his heart kicking into a time and half beat for some stupid reason.

He rounded the corner into the living room and stopped. There were a bunch of teenage girls scattered around the room, all watching a hockey game. Em was cuddled up next to another girl on the couch. Their body language declared there was more to their relationship than just friendship.

The pieces shifted into place, and he finally realized what Alex’s comment about Em finding herself had probably been about. The one that had caused the extension of Em’s grounding the day he and Alex had gone on their first date at the market.

Part of him wanted to take the girl aside and let her know that breaking Em’s heart was not advisable. Which was stupid. He wasn’t Em’s dad. So why did reminding himself of the fact make him feel all weird? Disappointed and shit?

“Hey, everyone,” Em said and climbed to her feet. She padded over to him. All the girls turned to look at them. And then six sets of eyes all seemed to widen with recognition at the same time. “This is Nick. Nick this is Sarah, Rachel, Miko, Keisha, Erica, and Hannah.” She pointed to each of the girls as she said their name. When she got to Hannah, her voice softened. Yup, totally something going on between those two.

“Hi,” he said, and waved. He was never going to remember any of their names—with the possible exception of Hannah. Was she Em’s girlfriend? Should he ask?

That’s a big fat no, you idiot. Right. None of his business.

The girls all stared at him, no one saying anything, to the point where he was starting to feel uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced into the kitchen. Alex sat at the table, her back to the living room. She was focused on something in front of her and didn’t seem to realize he was here.

Em bounced on the balls of her feet again, that same excitement coming off her in waves large enough to sink all the boats in the marina. “Guess what, Nick?”

He turned his focus back to the birthday girl.

She grabbed his arm. “My dad got me tickets to see the Dragon’s play in the Lair in Colorado.”

Another jab of jealousy. Which was stupid. “That’s awesome.”

“And, he’s flying me there for spring break so we can go. And he bought me this jersey, so I can wear it at the game.”

Jab, jab, jab. Why hadn’t he thought of something like that? All he’d gotten her was some gift cards. One for her favorite sporting goods store so she could get some new equipment, since she’d mentioned needing a new pair of gloves, and one for a clothing store the young woman he’d purchased the cards from had insisted was very popular. At the last minute, he added one for a popular bookstore.

Maybe he could send her and Alex some tickets, pay for them to come out and watch a game in Providence. But wasn’t that just copying what Kevin had given her?

His scalp began to prickle, an ache building in his lungs. He swallowed hard, pushed the feelings away. Hopefully the girls wouldn’t notice he was close to freaking out. Which he didn’t understand. It didn’t make any sense. Why was he freaking out over birthday presents?

Em seemed oblivious, just stared at him with the excitement of an overstimulated puppy.

“That’s really great. I’m sure you’ll have a great time.” His voice came out a little weird, but she didn’t so much as blink. Some of the tension slipped out of him. “I’m going to go talk to your mom.” He patted her on the shoulder. “It was nice to meet you all.” He gave another wave and then turned and walked toward the table.

Alex was absorbed by whatever she was doing, and didn’t hear him walk up behind her. He leaned over, about to press a kiss to the back of her head, but froze when he noticed what was on her tablet. Job listings.

A shock went through him. Why was she looking at job listings? She had her own business. Were things with finding a new building really that bad? And if so, why hadn’t she told him? Talked to him about it?

Umm, maybe because you’re not in a relationship and she doesn’t have to.

Of course. But… Yeah, there were no buts. It was the truth. He needed to stop. She would do her thing, he’d do his, they’d have a little fun. End of story.

Except, that wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted Alex and Em to be a part of his life, even after he went back to New England tomorrow. The idea had been floating around in the back of his mind the last couple of weeks, but he’d initially written it off as great-sex-brain.

But, as time passed, the idea hadn’t gone away. Only gotten stronger.

Since he hadn’t been expecting to broach the subject so early tonight, a streak of his previous panic washed through him. He stepped back, but must have made some noise, because her shoulders stiffened and she turned around.

She realized it was him and smiled, but it didn’t light up her face.

“Hey.” The defeat in her voice wrenched is heart.

“Hey.” He wanted to soothe her or shake her or something. Tell her everything would be okay. But he didn’t know if it would, and it wasn’t his place. Just like with Em.

“How are you?” She swiped off the page on the tablet and pushed to her feet. “Em wanted us to wait until you got here before we ordered the pizza. She wanted to make sure we got something you’d like.”

“How about I buy you a building?”