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“Long.” Ann settled her shoes on the floor under her jacket before shutting the door and turning to Lila. “But it’s good to see you as a way to finish out the night.”
Lila’s cheeks heated. She loved the way Ann talked to her—ruthless and full of passion. Like she was absolutely desirable in every way. Ann liked to be talked to like that too. Pecking Ann’s lips once more, Lila headed into the kitchen to pull out the dinner she’d made. She plated their meals and dropped onto the couch with them, handing one over.
“It looks delicious.”
“It better be. It took me a whole twenty minutes to make.” Lila winked. “So what’s going on? You lose a patient or something? You’re not usually one to make such last-minute plans.”
Ann shrugged ever so slightly, but she wouldn’t look Lila in the eye. That pretty much told Lila right there what the problem was—home. She tried to stay out of Ann’s relationship as much as she could, per her request, but some days it was hard to ignore how dysfunctional Ann’s relationship had become.
“Do you want to leave her?”
“No,” Ann tersely replied. “No, I don’t want to leave her. I want…I want to be able to talk to her.”
“So talk.”
Ann groaned. “I try, and I fail. But really, I’m not here to talk about that.”
Lila’s tongue peeked out from between her lips. “Sure you’re not.”
Sending her a mock glare, Ann held up her plate. “This is good.”
“Glad I could oblige.” An uneasiness settled in the pit of Lila’s stomach. She never wanted to pull Ann away from her partner. Rather, she wanted to bring them together. She didn’t want Ann for herself—never. That wasn’t how she operated or how she fell in love. She was independent, and she loved having freedom and living by herself.
“Would you say yes to a weekend away?”
“What?” Lila stiffened, facing Ann fully. In all the time they had been together, Ann had never made such a request. Evenings here and there were all she had ever wanted. “Why?”
Ann gave a slight shrug. “I think I need to get away a bit longer, have some more time.”
“But you want company?” Lila couldn’t tear her gaze away from Ann’s face, from the lines that had deepened in the last few months, to the bags under her eyes, and the weariness that seemed permanently settled in her posture as of late.
“I do.” Ann raked a heated gaze over Lila. “Company would be most welcome, and a nice distraction.”
“Distraction?” Lila’s tone was serious even though she wanted it to be flirty. She knew it hadn’t come off like Ann had meant it. She knew after nearly a year of being together that Ann valued her far more than a simple distraction.
“Hmm, yes, you are quite good at distracting.” If Ann could gobble her up in one bite based on the look she was getting, Lila was pretty sure she would.
Giggling lightly, Lila set her plate down. “Now what would you need distracting from? Hmm?”
Ann scoffed and shoved another bite of enchilada in her mouth. Lila tried to hold back the smirk threatening to overtake her. She wanted to push Ann into talking or at least thinking about what was happening. Avoiding never did Ann good, although she was good at it.
“I know you don’t want to talk about your marital problems—”
“We’re not married,” Ann said clipped.
“Right, but you’ve been together for a long time, so in lieu of another word, I know you don’t want to talk about your problems with your long-term partner, but I am here to listen if you want. It’d be better if you’d talk to her about it, though.”
“I’ve tried to talk with her, Lila. Really I have. And we just…never seem to hear each other.”
Lila narrowed her gaze. “Then you need to learn how to listen as well as how to speak.”
“You’re too young to be this damn wise. Stop it.” Ann pouted.
Lila finished her dinner and relaxed. “I’m serious.”
“I know you are. Really. I didn’t come here to talk about her.”
“Then talk to me about something.”
