Lex sighs deeply. “If it wasn’t my week with Gabe I would. But I’m out of chicken nuggets and that’s all he eats, so I have no choice but to endure the supermarket on a Sunday afternoon.”
“You are a warrior,” I say, clipping the leash to Winston’s collar.
“I know. I’m the bravest girl in the world.” She takes my free hand and gives it a squeeze before climbing the stairs to the front door.
The walk to Lex’s car is short, so we take our time with the excuse of Winston stopping to pee on everything he sees. “When can I see you again?” I ask, squinting in the sunshine.
“Are you up for attempting to feed my child again?” Her blue eyes are absolutely luminous, twinkling and bright, and the caramel undertones of her hair are glinting and shimmering as the breeze tousles her short locks.
“Are you up for me trying to hide vegetables in his dinner?” I ask, only half joking.
Lex grins. “I’ve been trying for years, but hey, you’re welcome to take a crack at it.”
“I’m down for feeding you and your kid any night of the week! Gabe is the best. And I want to see how he’s progressing with his line memorization, and—”
“Aubrey?”
“—I found some more makeup he might like. We need to practice his smoky eye a little more, and—”
“Uh, Aubrey?”
“—in fairness, when he came over for chicken alfredo the noodles were alittleovercooked, so I won’t do that again—”
“Aubrey!”
“What?”
She points over at Winston, who is making a meal out of a swath of grass.
“Winston!” I race over and pick him up before he can eat any more. “You know your tummy can’t handle that! I’ll have to get him a ginger chew when I get home.”
“Poor old fella,” Lex tuts, scratching his ear.
“Um... what was I saying?” I ask, setting Winston down but keeping his leash short, my train of thought completely off the tracks.
“Gabe and me coming for dinner.”
“Yes! Can you?”
Lex’s lips quirk into a smile. “As much as I’d love to bring him over, and as much as he’d love to see Winston, his summer’s-end performance is Friday.”
“Wow,” I say, momentarily stunned. “Is summer already almost over?”
Lex nods. “It’s gone by fast.”
“I suppose dating half of Tinder will do that.”
Lex’s dimples flash before disappearing. “He did ask me to ask you if you can come to it. But if you can’t I totally get—”
“I’d love to!” I grab Lex and pull her in for a hug, wrapping my arms tightly around her. I’m so happy my heart feels like it’s going to burst. “I can’t believe I get a best friend, a lover, and a bonus awesome kid all wrapped up in one package.”
“I know how you feel.” Lex caresses my cheek.
I lean into her embrace, savouring it, wishing I could take her back inside and explore her body even more. It’s good that we didn’t do more this morning; I’ve never had the opportunity to take things slow, and I can already tell the buildup and payoff will be worth it. “I feel really lucky to have met you, even though our circumstances were less than perfect, and—”
Hork, hork, hork...
We look over to Winston, who is now very ungracefully regurgitating his grassy snack onto the sidewalk.
