“You’ve never gone shopping with someone?” she asks incredulously. “Wow. Just … wow. It’s definitely on like Donkey Kong. But seriously, damn. How have you never done that?”
I shake my head. “I dunno. I have a twin brother, and it was always just us growing up, even through college. I’ve never really had anyone to go shopping with, I guess. It’s not my Aunt’s thing.”
I said it not realizing the barrage of questions it would unleash. I spend a while explaining my odd upbringing, save the psychic abilities, of course, even though including them would help it all to make much more sense. Anna tells me about growing up with three sisters, which explains her penchant for shopping, but it sounds like it was also massive amounts of drama.
By the time my lunch hour is up, we’ve gotten to know a fair bit about each other, but I’ve also got tears of laughter running down my face. Anna is a riot, but our banter also comes so naturally that it feels good. It makes me feel funny and interesting. And I usually am not big on socializing, but I kind of love our dynamic.
Chapter Twelve
DREW
I’m less than thrilled when I get home late on Friday night — okay, fine, technically Saturday at this point — to find my roommate, Nick, is on a stopover between service routes. He’s a lot of fun sometimes, but he’s also got a bad record of going after women I bring to the apartment. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to worry about it, because CJ’s on her way. So I shower as quickly as I can.
I’m putting on a pair of gray sweats when there’s a knock on the door. I can hear indistinct chatter as I quickly pull them up and add a navy tee. I hurry into the living room to find Nick reaching his hand out to shake CJ’s.
“Yep, I’m Nick,” he says to her. “Nice to meet you.”
“I —” CJ starts to stammer
“Hands off my girl.”
Nick drops his hand and turns, shooting me a look of disbelief. “I wasn’t —”
“I know, I know,” I accede, gathering CJ in my arms. “Hey, babe.” I plant a brief, light kiss on her lips.
“Thanks for the save,” she whispers, looking up into my eyes.
I wink at her. “I brought home food from the restaurant. Hungry?”
“Cheesecake?” she asks hopefully.
I disentangle myself and lead her into the kitchen. I gesture to a small container next to two larger ones. Once I’m within reach, I pick it up and hand it to her. “You can thank Anna for stashing you a piece early. It’s sold out every day since we added it to the menu.”
She claps her hands and accepts the container gratefully. Nick meanders in and I hand him one of the larger containers, since obviously CJ is focused on dessert and not likely to go for real food. I grab the other one, and we all head into the living room to eat the spoils of my job. One of the few perks.
“So, you’re a flight attendant?” CJ asks Nick after her first bite of cheesecake.
Nick nods, his mouth full of halibut. “Back for three whole days this time.”
“Where were you?” she asks curiously.
“I was doing an Australia loop. Always exhausting coming back, as it’s such a huge adjustment.”
“I can only imagine,” she murmurs before taking another bite.
Nick shrugs. “I love it, though. How about you? What do you do?”
“I’m an administrative assistant at a social media company.”
“Oooh, which one?” he asks, his eyes wide.
She tells him and answers a few other mundane questions.
“So I’ve never heard Drew so excited about a woman before,” he says. “You guys must be pretty serious.”
I can’t help it; I choke on my food. I barely even mentioned her. Why would he throw me under the bus like that? CJ gives me a worried glance.
“You okay over there?” she asks tersely.
I nod and take a sip of water. “Fine,” I manage to croak out.
Nick chuckles, still looking between us expectantly.
“Well, I seriously like him,” CJ offers lightly, smiling through her obvious discomfort — at the question or my reaction, I’m not sure which. “But it’s only been a couple of weeks.”
Nick nods knowingly. “Give him a couple more weeks for the good behavior to wear off,” he teases.
“Dude, seriously?” I ask bluntly.
“I’m just kidding,” Nick replies, closing his takeout container. “Anyway, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone. I’m going out to meet some friends.”
CJ glances at the time on her phone in disbelief. Nick doesn’t miss it.
“Hey, right now it’s late afternoon in Sydney.” He shrugs. “Don’t have too much fun without me, kids. It was nice to meet you, CJ.” He gives me a cheeky wink as he heads out.
She gives a small, confused smile and a wave back, and then he’s gone.
“Is he always so weird?” she asks me.
“Oh, thank god,” I breathe.
“I’m confused.”
I move from the armchair to the couch next to her, sliding my hand over her thigh. “Dude has a habit of trying to get me in hot water with any woman I dare bring into the apartment. He thinks he can charm them away once they’re mad at me. Glad you didn’t fall for it.”
“That was supposed to be charming?” She shakes her head. “Has it ever worked?”
My mouth presses into a thin line. “Just once.”
She considers me for a moment. “Enough about him. How was your night?”
I sigh heavily, running my hands over my head. Today was a shitshow and I don’t particularly want to relive it. I’d rather just get this woman in my arms and chill the fuck out for the rest of the night.
“I don’t really want to talk about it. C’mere.” I reach out and pull her against me. She leans back, resting her head on my chest and kicking her feet up. I’m relieved she didn’t push for more. “Want to watch a movie or something?”
She turns her head to look up at me as I fiddle with the remote, not meeting her gaze. An awkwardness still hangs in the air between us, and I’m worried that she wants to talk more about how “serious” things are. Not because they’re not, but because I’m just too fucking tired for anything that intense right now.
We pick a movie and watch it in silence.
And about halfway through, I start to drift to sleep. I fight it as hard as I can. It’s definitely not how I usually am, and I don’t want CJ to think it’s because of her. Though at some point, she starts to do that thing where she thinks she can sneak away without me noticing.
I reach out and wrap my arms around her, opening my eyes fully. Not having realized they were mostly closed.
“Going somewhere?” I murmur.
She gives me an awkward smile and a shrug. “You’re tired. I should go home and let you sleep.”
My brow furrows and I tip my head to the side. “I’m fine, I just got comfortable and dozed off for a minute. Stay.”
She huffs a disbelieving breath out of her nose, and my frown deepens. She pulls out of my embrace and turns to sit on the ottoman, facing me.