“I just mean, if you were, that would be okay,” I clarified
No it fucking wouldn’t.
Ellie was quiet, then said, “I thought you didn’t want to talk about this stuff?”
“Yeah but maybe it’s something I should know.” WhywasI trying so hard to talk about this?
“Why?”
Yeah, exactly.Sam, you absolute clown.But I’d started it now.
“Because of Henry,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
I scratched my eyebrow with my free thumb. Shit. WhatdidI mean? “Well… I guess… what if I come over to hang out with Henry and you were like, there, with some dude, making out on the couch or something.”
Ellie let out a bark of a laugh. “Somedude?”She looked up at me under a slanted brow. “Sam. I would never do that.”
“What, make out with some dude?”
“No,” she laughed. “Since Henry’s a baby, presumably I’d be the one making the plans for you to hang out with him. I wouldn’t do that and then bemaking outon the couch with someone at the appointed hangout time.”
“Yeah, I guess that would be weird.”
Ellie rolled her lips between her teeth. She was trying not to laugh again. I relaxed. Maybe I hadn’t hugely stuck my foot in it.
I pretended to be consternated. “Okay, but what if you were expecting me, but he wanted to just like, kiss? Or snuggle.”
Ellie screwed up her eyebrows. “Wait, so this hypothetical ‘dude’, knowing you were coming over, would just randomly ask me to snuggle?”
“Could be a power move.”
She really did laugh now. “Who would snuggleas a power move?”
“I don’t know. Maybe…. Sidney the CEO.”
She threw her head back, laughing big now. “Is that who you think I’d date?”
“I don’t know. You won’t tell me. Maybe you’d date Don, the… mafia don.”
“Maybe I’d date Gord the garbage truck driver.”
“Hey, Gord’s a good guy.”
Her laughter felt like a warm glow in my chest. No, a whole damn bonfire. This is how it had been before. She was right. We didn’t know each other that well. But we weren’t starting from nothing. We’d had a lot of sex, but we’d talked a lot that night too, which was honestly almost as good. Maybe better, if the sex hadn’t been so mind-blowing.
And then fuck, there I was thinking about things friends didn’t do again.
“So…” I shouldn’t ask, but I desperately needed to know. “Isthere a Gord in the picture?”
Ellie folded her arms, which made me have to look away from her again. “No.”
Relief fanned through me. Even though it wasn’t supposed to. “Okay. Cool. Me neither.”
“You’re not seeing Gord?”
I grinned. “Not my cup of tea. Heard he’s a great guy though.”
