“So, this weird guy, Tommy, you’re considering shacking up with him?”
I balked at the word shacking up, my feet pausing on the scuffed floor. “Firstly, his name is Thomas.” Though he must have a nickname, surely. “And secondly, I’m not shacking up with him.”
Hope snorted. “Sure you’re not. What are you doing then? Because I know I’d want revenge on Miles’s cheating ass too. There’s no shame in your hating game, sister.”
I huffed out an incredulous laugh. “God, stop it. Really, it’s not like that.”
“Hayden! Get that out of your nose right now.” A pause, then, “Because otherwise it’ll get stuck in your brain, and they’ll need to cut your head open to get it out.” Hope sighed, and I bit my lips, more laughter bubbling in my throat. “Great, now he’s crying.”
“Of course, he is. You scared the shit out of him.”
“Dad said it to you when you were four, and you turned out just fine.” She stopped and laughed. “I guess.”
I tore off a chunk of my peanut butter sandwich, chewing. “Shut up.”
“Anyway, what’s this guy want with you if he doesn’t want between your legs? If he knows about Miles, then he knows there could be a bit of a wait time.”
I choked, belting my chest as I wheezed, “Jesus fucking Christ, Hope.” Scrambling for the fridge, I broke my own rule and drained the last of the milk from the carton, trying to push the bread down. “Okay, I’m alive.”
“Dramatic much?”
“I can’t even with you.”
“You love me, and I gotta go. Hayden’s still crying about his brain.”
Smirking, I tossed the milk carton into the recycling. “He’s probably going to have nightmares, you know.”
“Nah,” she said. “I’ve said worse, and he’s slept fine. Keep me posted on the weird dude and Miles. As much as I wanna kick him in the ass, I love hearing a good grovel just as much as the next girl.” She sighed. “Your life, Jem. Seriously. Wanna trade for a day?”
Laughing again, I hung up.
As soon as I walked away from my phone, it started ringing again.
With laughter still coating my voice, I answered with, “Oh, I forgot to tell you, I already kneed him in the balls.”
Silence.
“Hello?” I looked at the screen, realizing it was an unknown number and not my sister calling me back to say she’d forgotten something as she sometimes did.
Shit.
“Jemima.” A quiet question layered around my name.
“Sorry, I thought you were my sister.”
Thomas coughed a little. “Who did you knee in the, ah …?”
“Balls,” I supplied, feeling the counter bite into my back as I leaned into it too heavily. “And Miles, of course.”
“Of course,” he echoed. “And when was this?”
“When he told me he’d cheated on me, then said I’d have to wait for him to be able to explain everything.” I peeked at my chipped nail polish. “Which makes total sense.”
Silence arrived again, and I was about to ask him why he’d called, especially after he’d said not to call him. Though I suppose that was before we’d kissed and had tea.
He spoke first. “As much as I’d love to listen to such gory tales of your ex, I need you to meet me somewhere.”
“Sounds ominous,” I joked.
It went right over his head. “It’s a park.”
“I was joking.”
“Oh.”
He told me where and what time, then promptly ended the call.
Feeling a sense of whiplash, I stared at my phone for a solid minute. Then I finished my sandwich and fixed my hair.
Lou Lou wrapped her arms around my legs as though she hadn’t seen me in years instead of a few weeks. I squeezed her back, loving the fresh scent of cinnamon on her hair, then watched her run to a seesaw where another boy sat waiting. His mother sat on the other side of the park, reading a book.
I took a seat beside Thomas on the small bench, and he eyed the tiny gap I left between us.
“What do you do in the summer? With work and Lou Lou?”
His eyes were on my legs as I crossed them, his hands fidgeting in his lap a moment before he stilled them and turned his stare to his daughter. “I manage just fine. She knows when I’m busy, I’m busy.”
“Well, if you need any help, I’m happy to take her a few days a week.” I tucked some hair behind my ear. “I’m heading to my dad’s for a little while, but Glenning isn’t that far from here.”
“I know.”
Feeling kind of stupid, I shook my head. “Okay.”
I was about to ask him which part of the city he lived in, realizing he’d never said over tea. Come to think of it, he’d mainly just talked about Lou Lou and listened to me prattle on about growing up in Glenning.
He spoke before I had the chance. “I have an assistant, but thank you for the offer.”
Something about his tone had me surveying him again. Closer this time. He was stiff, stiffer than usual, and his demeanor cold. “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t answer, barely even seemed to breathe.
I prompted again. “Thomas?”
“I don’t like it, okay?” he finally snapped but did so in a quiet, controlled way compared to most. His chest rose and fell faster and faster the longer he stared at me, his eyes wild and glowing.
“What?” I asked as softly as possible.
“That you were with him.”
“Oh.” I frowned. “Hang on … how did you know?”
“That’s irrelevant.” He made a disgusted sound. “I hate it. After what he did to you. Not when he’s—”
His mouth shut when I laid my hand over his. “We haven’t been together, together.” My cheeks reddened. “Not like that. Not since I found out about the other woman.”
“Other woman,” Thomas repeated with a slip of an irritated smile.
There was no way to stop my heart from wincing at the reminder, and Thomas noticed, his hand folding over mine, fingers like velvet as they stroked. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
I waved at Lou Lou when she looked over, and she smiled as she turned to run into a tunnel.
“I needed to see you because”—he paused, groaning—“I don’t know how to say it …”
“You were upset?” I offered.
His phone chirped, and he pulled it out, inspecting it with a sigh. “I’m afraid it’ll have to wait. I need to go.” Putting his phone away, he turned to me, erasing the gap between our bodies. “But first, I have to do this again.” He leaned in, lips capturing mine as his hands gently grasped my face.
I slid even closer, losing sight of our surroundings and only seeing him, smelling him, tasting him, and feeling him. He kept it chaste, even as my tongue pushed at the seam of his smooth lips, even as he made a quiet groaning sound when he inhaled, my top lip pressing between both of his.
One of the kids on the playground squealed, then laughter followed.
He tore away and practically fell from the bench with how quick he moved. Righting himself, he mumbled, “Just … be careful, Little Dove.”
I was slow to take in his actions, his words, and my next breath as he traipsed over the grass and collected Lou Lou, who waved at me as he marched her to his car.
I stood as he helped her in but otherwise couldn’t move. I didn’t know whether to smile from the vibrations his mouth had left in its wake or wonder what the hell I’d done that had him running away like a boy who’d just stolen a kiss on the playground at school.
We’d done it before, after all.
A mixture of both settled while I watched his car speed off down the busy side street.