Page 335 of Safe With You

“You shouldn’t.”

“Very convincing.”

“You know what I mean.”

I did.

The smile stayed on my face as I turned at the light.

There was an ease to talking to him that I’d stopped questioning somewhere along the way. Maybe I should’ve noticed when forty-minute phone calls stopped surprising me or when seeing his name on my screen started feeling less like an interruption and more like part of my day.

Tonight, I was grateful for it.

I didn’t need the distraction. I just liked talking to him.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Always.”

I hesitated, but only for a second.

“Lucas reached out to my mama.”

The silence on the other end was brief.

“When?”

“Yesterday. She told me tonight.”

“What did he want?”

“He asked how I was doing.” I adjusted my grip on the steering wheel. “And whether I was seeing anybody.”

“Did she tell him?”

“No.”

“Good.”

I glanced at the empty road ahead of me. “She told him if he wanted to know how I was doing, he should’ve cared more about that when he had me.”

Ellis laughed, the sound warm through the speaker.

“Your mama said that?”

“Word for word.”

“I knew I liked her.”

“You’ve met her once.”

“Didn’t take long.”

I laughed.

He let a few seconds pass before asking, “You okay?”

“Yeah.”