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“He has a soft gooey inner center. And a rough… abrasive outer exterior,” I said. “And he really cares about Ben. More than anything.”
“Listen,” Belle said as she tried to rub nacho cheese from her belly and then gave up with a dismissive wave of her hand. “A successful relationship happens when two puzzle pieces that don’t match agree to jam themselves together. Somehow, some way. It’s never going to be a perfect fit, but what matters if you’re both committed to continue ramming into each other and enjoying the process.”
Chris walked up behind Belle as she was giving her little monologue, all while waving a French fry wildly to emphasize her points. “Did I interrupt you giving the girls a recap of last night? She’s right,” he said, looking from me to Chelsea. “I thoroughly enjoyed ramming into Belle.” He bit her earlobe. “Again… and again.”
Chelsea screwed up her face. “Aren’t you worried about hurting the baby?”
“We’re being careful,” Chris promised. “Before I start, I get down low and yell, fire in the hole!”
Chelsea made a disgusted noise, but Belle and I both snorted with laughter.
Mis-matched puzzle pieces. I wondered if that’s what Jack and I were. More, I wondered if I was committed to “keep ramming into him” as Belle so eloquently put it. And I wondered if long distance ramming counted. As in, from Florida to New York.29JackI came back home at eight after getting a call from Ally. She said something was wrong and I needed to hurry back, which meant I had to shoot off a hurried text to make sure Damon or Chris could make sure Nola got home safely.
When I came home, my heart was pounding. I had visions of Ben hurt or in the middle of some kind of seizure. I pictured blood and screaming.
I found Ally standing by the kitchen island, and I was fairly sure she’d changed clothes since she showed up a few hours ago. She was wearing a dress now that looked like it belonged at a ritzy party or even a darkened club with loud music. It was short, revealing, and instantly set off alarms in my mind.
“You said there was an emergency,” I said.
“I figured it out, sorry. I thought you were close enough to being home and didn’t want to text or call while you were driving.”
I clenched my teeth. “You figured it out? What was wrong?”
“Ben was freaking out. He said he always took his drawing stuff into bed with him and I said they needed to stay in the craft room. The bed is for sleep, not drawing.”
I felt myself bristle. She’d been out of his life since the moment she handed him off as a newborn. Now she thought she could come on her first day back and make new rules for him? “Ben does take his sketchbook to bed. It helps him fall asleep.”
Ally clicked her tongue, wincing a little. “That’s not good for healthy sleep habits. The bed is just supposed to be for sleeping. And, well,” She added with a not-so-innocent shrug and twirl of her blonde hair.
I ignored what I hoped wasn’t flirtation. “I don’t want—”
The door swung open, and I saw Nola. She was flushed and looked adorably sexy in the dark green cotton dress she wore. I had a brief but powerful urge to push her against the wall and kiss the soft, pale skin of her neck. To feel her hot breath against my ear as she let out one of those happy little sighs I’d coaxed from her a few nights ago.
“What is she doing here?” Ally asked. Her voice was a few pitches too high, and I gradually started to suspect I’d been played. The dress she was wearing. The hint of flirtation. The timing of her re-arrival into my life and Ben’s. And now the clear jealous indignation in her voice.
“She saw me rush off from the date we’d been on,” I said. I wasn’t sure if Nola had considered it a date, especially since I’d been so preoccupied knowing Ally was watching Ben that I’d barely said a word to her. I’d also rushed off without even saying goodbye. “She probably wanted to make sure nobody was dead or dying.”
Ally rolled her eyes.
Nola made a small sound, then moved almost beside me, but not quite. I took it as a diplomatic move not to rub our togetherness in Ally’s face, and I felt a surge of respect for her rise in me.
Ally was being jealous and spiteful. Nola was trying to be respectful, even if what was happening barely made sense to her and appeared to be in her worst interests.
I put my arm around her waist and pulled her to my side, enjoying the soft bump of her hip against my thigh. Nola was stiff for a moment, then seemed to accept the unspoken message I was sending. We’re together. You don’t need to wonder anymore. You’re mine.
