Larkin reaches me, giggling as I catch the handlebars to steady the tricycle before crouching down in front of her.“Hey, menace.”
“You came over!”Her little voice filled with excitement.
“Looks that way.”I reach up and fix the crooked helmet strap beneath her chin, pressing a quick kiss against her cheek before I stand straight again.
Behind her, Luc stays quiet for a second too long, brows pinched.Watching, taking it all in.“You good?”
I rake a hand through my hair, heartbeat still settling unevenly inside my chest.“Yeah.Yeah, I just didn’t see you at first.”
Luc’s gaze flicks briefly toward Larkin before returning to me again.He knows why I just reacted the way I did.He’s one of the only people that does.“The anniversary’s coming up, huh?”
A tight knot forms instantly beneath my ribs, and I kick a loose stone with the toe of my shoe.“December.”
Luc nods once like that explains everything.Because to him, it does.And I let him believe it.For now.“You need anything?”
“Nah.”I shake my head, meeting his gaze.“Thanks for last night though.It helped.”
“Didn’t do anything.”He claps a hand on my shoulder as he strides past me on his way to maneuver Larkin in a different direction.Typical Luc.And the reason I love him more than I’ll ever be able to admit.
By the time I climb into my Audi, the sky is starting to darken.Another thing about Chicago in October.The days disappear faster.Instead of heading home, I find myself turning east.Then south.Then eventually pulling up across from Vanessa’s apartment like it wasn’t the destination all along.
The engine idles quietly beneath me while I stare up at the lit windows on the second floor.Her windows.Warm light spills through partially open curtains, soft against the darker blue of early evening.I can see movement inside every few minutes.Her silhouette crossing from one room to another.Pausing then disappearing again.
Domestic.Soft.Nothing about it should hold my attention this completely.Yet here I am.Watching like a damn stalker.I unlock my phone before I think better of it.
The contact entry is new.Added sometime after midnight when the whiskey had lowered my resistance enough to stop pretending I wasn’t going to reach out eventually.
My thumb hovers once.Then I type.
You always leave people wondering after kissing them like that?
The reply comes faster than I expect.
I’m sorry, should I know who this is?
Oh, so she wants to play it like this.
Just how many people have you kissed in the last few days?
Do I even want to know how you got my private cell number?
A smile tugs slowly at my mouth as I realize she completely evaded my prior question.
I have resources.
The typing bubble appears immediately.Then disappears.Then comes back again.
That somehow feels less reassuring than you think it does.How’s the overthinking going?
I lean back against the seat, surprised she called me out for exactly what I’d been doing.Then again, she knows me.Or at least she used to.
Not the first time I’ve been accused of that.How are you?
There’s a long pause before bubbles finally appear, then her response.
Trying to pretend I haven’t been replaying Thursday night in my head.I failed.
That lands harder than it should.
