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“Yeah,” I agreed. “Weird that he picked up on something coming from you, though. I thought for sure everyone could tell how stupid I was for you.”
Mikey’s eyes flicked over my face. “Sometimes, I think back at how we were together, and I can’t believe I didn’t figure out my feelings sooner.”
“I knew right away,” I said softly.
“Well, I’m glad one of us did,” Mikey murmured, turning to glance over his shoulder as he backed out of the spot.
After we’d gone a few blocks, he asked, “If I hadn’t asked for that massage, do you think you would have initiated something?”
“No,” I answered immediately. “Never.”
He looked my way briefly, his expression shocked. “Really?”
“I was too afraid of what would happen. I’d decided I would rather have you as a friend than risk losing you.”
He reached his right hand across the console, palm facing upward. I set my left atop it, linking our fingers together.
“Well, you’re stuck with me now,” he said, grinning widely before launching into, “If you like it, then you shoulda put a ring on it.”
“Speaking of,” I said as we turned onto our street.
At the stop sign at the bottom of the hill, Mikey turned to me, his eyes wide. “Yeah?”
I nodded, chewing on my bottom lip. “I picked it up the other day.”
“What about the plan?” he asked.
“Fuck the plan.”
“Fuck the plan,” he agreed, his eyes going soft.
He squeezed my hand once before easing his foot off the brake, humming Beyoncé under his breath as he turned into the driveway for our building.
THIRTY-SEVEN
MIKEY
I woke up to Cally lying across my chest, his big body trapping me against the mattress. One of his legs was hooked over my thighs, while an arm was draped across my middle. A puddle of drool soaked into the skin just above my nipple, his hair tickling my nose as I breathed.
Careful not to disturb him, I fumbled around the nightstand until my fingers knocked against my phone. I dragged it over, tapping it awake to check the time, wincing at the overly bright screen.
“Hey,” I murmured, curling the hand of my pinned arm around his shoulder. “Let me up.”
He let out a quiet grunt, his arm tightening around my waist.
It took some careful maneuvering, but I managed to slide out from under him without jostling him too badly. Then I ducked into my own bedroom where I threw on some clothes and headed to the kitchen to make a cappuccino on Cally’s fancy machine.
When it was done, I curled up on the couch, scrolling my Instagram feed. I liked a picture of Soren and Axel out ice fishing on the lake Soren’s grandpa lived on, one of Dave standing next to a very beautiful woman at what looked like his department’s holiday party, Big Sal out riding a snowmobile with his cousins, and finally a selfie of Pauly in a hot tub, his arm around Maddie, who was making duck lips into the camera.
Looked like my grandma’s neighborhood gossip network was right after all.
I closed out of the app and pulled up my chat with him.
Me
Bro, you and Maddie are playing with .
Her sister will burn your literal house down
