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“Yeah, he was my best friend. It was hard to lose him. Unexpected.” I’ll never forget that phone call. The shock. The feeling that the whole world was pulled out from beneath me.
“What happened?”
“Fell off a ladder. Broke his neck.” I take a breath. “It was quick.”
She reaches for my hand, holding it in hers. “I’m sorry.”
I nod, appreciating the sentiment, just standing there for a minute with her. Letting that connection thrum between us. Our eyes meet, and I know I need to let go. Giving her hand a last squeeze, I take the glasses out to the living room and set them on the coffee table alongside a stack of neatly paired baby socks. Except for that one lone ranger. Where the hell?
We sit, Nora sinking into her corner, me into mine. The apartment quiet around us. “I was lucky. I got twenty years with him. My mom used to joke they were like dog years. The way he was always going, he lived seven years for each one a normal person lived. I had so much of him, but damn, what I wouldn’t give to have him to talk to now.”
“What would you ask?”
“How he did it. How he always knew what we needed. How he made us feel so secure, like no matter what went down, we were safe.” Tipping my head back, I close my eyes. “I want that for Otto. I want him to feel like no matter what, he can count on me. But how do I do that when I’ll be gone as much as I’m here?”
“Hey.” She nudges my thigh with her foot, and I crack an eye. “You love him. You give him the best you have, and he’ll know.”
“That simple, huh?”
She’s quiet a moment and then shrugs. “I hope so.”
* * *
Nora
“Helloooo, happy holidays,”I call as I close the door behind me and hang my coat.
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”
I turn to find Axel walking down the hall with Otto tucked in the crook of his arm, and my heart starts to pound, warmth stirring in my belly. I take in their matching bedhead hair, one wearing a T-shirt that hugs every muscle and dip beneath, the other sporting a pair of red footie PJs with a hockey stick print.
“Well, look at you, handsome,” I coo, meeting them and leaning in to give Otto a kiss as his feet kick with glee. Axel’s arm comes around me, his hand solid and warm at my back as he pulls me in for the hug I can’t help but sink into.
Because we hug now.
It’s what friends do.
No big deal.
Except that it’s been three days since I’ve seen these two, and while my heart ached for both of them, my body is reacting to the close proximity of one in a way that is a very big deal.
Friends aren’t supposed to subtly draw in deep, shiver-inducing breaths of each other. Their skin isn’t supposed to spark and hum beneath the most innocuous contact.
Friends aren’t supposed to hope that three days apart will be enough to rein in those rebel crushy feelings that have started taking root.
So much for that.
I take a step back, swallowing as I meet the blue of Axel’s eyes. For a beat, it’s all right there. The kiss, the attraction. And then all the reasons we both know better than to acknowledge any of the above.
Axel blinks, and I’m free.
He gives me one of those grins that are so wide, you want to grin right along with him before you even know what’s behind it.
“Handsome, huh? Well, hello to you too,gorgeous.”
It’s over the top but works to defuse the situation.
“I was talkingto your son.”
