“I didn’t hear any buzzing from your room last night.”
I peered over my shoulder at a still-half asleep Ethan. “I can’t imagine why you would have. I don’t keep bees in there.”
“You’re funny. Is there any coffee?”
“In the machine, yes.”
“That was a not-so-subtle way of asking if you’d make me one.”
I turned, sipping from my own cup. “I didn’t hear a please. But I am grateful to be reunited with my socks.”
“You and those fucking socks.” He scrubbed his hand through his dark-blonde hair. “I’d like my insoles back this morning, please.”
I stepped to the side so he could get a coffee. “They’re in my trunk. You can have them.”
“Thank you.” He hit the button on the machine, and it whirred to life. “So. Are you working today?”
“Twelve ‘til seven.”
“You wanna get dinner together?”
I raised my eyebrows. “As opposed to me cooking something and you bringing in pizza?”
“Exactly that.” He grinned, pulling the cup out from the machine. “We could go out.”
“Like a date?”
“Not like a date. A date.”
“Where there are other people?”
“Don’t tell me that after all this, you’re ashamed to be seen with me.”
I choked on my coffee. “No,” I squeaked. “I just—” I stopped when I saw the shit-eating smile on his face. “Oh, go away.”
He laughed way too hard for so early in the morning.
“Ugh. Go be a morning person somewhere else.” I sipped the coffee again. “I have no idea how this is going to work. I was determined to date a night owl like me.”
“I can’t be a night owl. I start work at eight. Why are you awake now, anyway?”
I sighed, sitting on one of the stools. “I woke up to pee and couldn’t get back to sleep.”
“That’s more information than I was going for.”
“You asked. I answered.” Another sip. “Besides, if you think that’s bad, wait until I’m on my period and run out of tampons. That’s your job now.”
“My job? To buy tampons?”
“If I’m desperate, I’m desperate. You’re the new first port of call.”
Ethan gripped the edge of the island. “Can I take some time to reconsider my options?”
“No.” I put the mug down, meeting his eyes. “Sorry. You should have thought about that before you decided you wanted to tell my brother you stuck your tongue down my throat.”
“You have such a beautiful way with words. Really poetic.”
“Thank you. I happen to agree.”
“I had a feeling you might.” His eyes sparkled as he lifted his mug to drink from it. “Well? Dinner?”
“Do I have to wear pants?”
“One thousand percent not.”
I pretended to think about it. “Do I have to wear a bra?”
“Ava, you can show up naked if you want.”
“That’s a dinner date I can get on board with.” I grinned and rested my chin on my hand. “Am I cooking, or are you going to bring food?”
“Hmm.” He leaned right over the table. “Are you cooking naked?”
“That’s a hazard. I’d like my nipples to not get burned off by wayward sauce splashes, thank you.”
“That would be uncomfortable.”
“No shit.” I rolled my eyes, glancing at my phone right after. “You know you’re running late, don’t you?”
Ethan leaned over and pulled my phone toward him. “Oh, shit!” He drank the coffee really fast, then put the mug down, flapping his hand in front of his face.
I watched, amused, as he ran into his room. There was a clatter that was followed by a loud, “Fuck!” and it took everything I had not to burst out laughing. Especially when a second, quieter one followed it—and a creak of the bed.
“All right in there?” I called in my most innocent voice.
“Shut up!” he shouted back. “I stubbed my fucking toe!”
“Wake up earlier, then!” I returned.
“Says the person who hates mornings!”
I laughed into my hands, desperately trying not to let it escape. If I gave in to it too much, I’d never stop.
“I’m going.” Ethan swerved to grab his keys. “I’ll see you later.”
“So I’m cooking, then.”
“I can cook. I’ll get something after work.” He raised his hand in goodbye at the front door, stopped, and changed course. He rushed over to me and grabbed my chin, kissing me firmly, then spun back and ran out of the apartment, leaving the door wide open.
Rolling my eyes, I got up and closed it behind him.
Then I went back to bed.
Mornings were for the birds, and I was not a bird.
At all.
***
“So you’re going for it?”
I nodded, passing Reagan the string she’d motioned for. “I think so. After Leo’s interference, everything makes sense.”
Halley wrinkled her nose up. “I can’t believe he did that. Did he think that you and Ethan wouldn’t care that he was your link?”
“I honestly don’t think he thought at all. He obviously thought he was helping, and I guess he was because it’s worked out in the end. I just wish we didn’t have to fight quite so much to get here.”
“That was a little rough,” Reagan agreed. “Think of it this way, though, it’s not like you were deliberately trying to hurt each other. It was all done out of good intentions.”
“Good intentions don’t heal broken hearts, though.” Halley tapped her fingers against her chin. “Well, they do, but not if you’re breaking your own hearts in the process.”
I shrugged a shoulder and picked at the remaining chips on the counter. “I guess. It’s fixed now, though. It’s not going to be the same because we live together, but we’re going to take it slow and see how it goes.”
“Is it weird to say it might be easier?”
“Yes,” Reagan said.
“No, listen.” Halley waved her hands. “You already know each other’s bad habits. Like, holy shit, when Preston moved in with me, it was hell. We argued for like a week straight, and it was because we never had any time apart. Even though we spent almost every night together, we still had a place to go before he moved in. After that…” She shuddered. “Splitting chores was hell. He was useless at just about everything.”
“Well, Ethan isn’t that bad. He already does stuff in the apartment.”
“There you go, then. You’re already off to a better start.” Reagan smirked. “You don’t need to be worried about anything, Ava. The biggest hurdle in your relationship was Leo, and he was the instigator in it all. Now you can just focus on being two people who are dating.”
“Right, but we didn’t really get along before. Is that supposed to just flip now? Are we going to go from not bitching at each other to getting along perfectly?”
“No,” Halley said honestly. “You won’t. But that’s just like any relationship. You’re still going to bicker, and knowing you two, you’re still going to do that passive-aggressive shit just because you found it more fun than anything else.”