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“What are twin toes?” I asked.
“It’s when two of your toes are stuck together. It used to bother me when I was younger, but I’ve come to appreciate them now.”
“Another term for that is webbed toes, I think,” Shannon said.
I smiled. “I have to see this.”
“Well, I’d pull my foot out, but that’s not really appropriate at the dinner table,” Wren said.
“I have twin toes.”
I dropped my fork. Who said that?
The three of us turned to Rafe at once.
It was as if God himself had spoken.
Wren looked at me, and then back at him. “Really? I’ve never met anyone else with them.”
He nodded.
“That’s so cool,” she said, looking as frazzled as I felt.
We sat there frozen. I knew that if I acknowledged it, Rafe might withdraw, so I tried to act nonchalant. But inside, I was ecstatic.
“I never knew that about you, Rafe,” I said. “I guess I haven’t looked closely enough at your feet.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Shannon glanced over at me and smiled.
We waited in silence, but he didn’t say anything else.
Rafe didn’t utter another word during the rest of dinner, even when prompted. But that was okay. Because we’d all heard it. “I have twin toes.” The four best words ever to be spoken. They’d given us hope.
After dinner ended, Rafe went to his room. Shannon started clearing the table, but I stopped her.
“Go home to Bob. I’ve got this.”
Wren took some dishes to the sink and said, “Yup. We’ve got this.”
“You’re sure, Dax?” Shannon asked.
“Yup. Get outta here.”
Shannon beamed. “Tonight was a good night, huh?”
“Indeed, it was,” I said. “I can’t get over it.”
“I think Wren is bringing him out of his shell,” she said.
Wren shook her head. “I didn’t do anything.”
Shannon threw her bag over her shoulder. “Well, you clearly gave him something he could relate to enough to want to speak. None of us have been able to do that.”
After Shannon left, I told Wren I’d handle the cleanup, but she insisted on helping. She finished clearing the table while I got started on the dishes.
“What are you thinking?” she asked me.
“I’m in shock,” I said, placing a tray on the drying rack.
“Me, too, but in a good way,” she said.
I shut off the water and wiped my hands. “All this time, and all we had to do was talk about twin toes?”
Wren laughed. “Apparently.”
“But it wasn’t really about the toes. It was the fact that he feels comfortable around you. And you managed to tap into something that mattered to him, just as you did with the anime stuff. Maybe the problem all along has been that neither Shannon nor I can relate to him on a personal level. I’ve tried to implement the advice you gave me about finding things he’s interested in, but nothing I do seems to resonate. With your vibrant energy around, his anxiety lifted just enough to make him want to say something.”
Wren’s cheeks turned pink. “Whatever the cause, it’s wonderful. And a good sign.”
When there were no more dishes to be done, Wren and I stood in the kitchen, facing each other. Despite my declaration that her being Rafe’s sister made her off-limits, the sexual tension between us had never waned, not even a little. You could cut it with a knife. In quiet moments like this, I really noticed it. I knew Wren was dating someone now, and that made the situation both harder and easier. As long as he made her happy, I was good with it. I didn’t have to love it. But it was a part of our dynamic I had to accept.
“Are you going out tonight?” I asked.
“Sam has to work, so I was going to head home and watch something on Netflix.”
“Sounds exciting,” I teased.
“You got any better ideas?”
“I’m kidding. Watching TV may not be exciting, but sometimes that’s what you need. It’s been a long week for you, I’m sure.” I tilted my head. “Everything going okay at work?”
“Yeah. They’ve kept me really busy, one massage client after another. I end up making more money because of the volume, even though the hourly rate is less.”
“Well, I guess that’s good, so long as you don’t mind more work.”
“I don’t. I need to keep busy.”
Wren looked beautiful tonight. Not that she ever looked less than gorgeous, but on this particular evening she wore a short, floral dress with a cut-off denim jacket. I tried hard not to let my eyes find the tiny bit of cleavage peeking out from her neckline, or the scattered beauty marks there. She’d never shown this much skin before. But what killed me was her nipples poking against the thin fabric. They seemed hard, and that made my dick want to play follow the leader.
I enjoyed being around her for many reasons besides her beauty, though. She was truly funny and lit up a room whenever she was in it. I loved listening to her talk. It put me in a good mood. Despite knowing nothing could come of these feelings, I was in no rush for her to leave tonight.
