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Andiknocksonmy door and smiles when Terry opens it.. “Hey girl,” he says. He steps aside to let her in.
She brushes past him and ruffles his hair. “Long time no see, bub.”
“Yeah. Figured I would give you your space. You were pretty angry last I saw you.”
She glances around the tiny living room of my house, and her eyes land on me, standing in the kitchen. I’ve got two beers in hand, and she takes one. Smiling shyly, she says, “Hey.”
“I was starting to think that I wouldn’t hear from you.”
“I’ve been busy,” she reminds me. “Haley picked up some part-time shifts at the hospital, so I was free tonight.”
“I’m glad you came,” I say.
Levins appears from down the hallway, adjusting his shirt, his hook up behind him. She is fully dressed, but her hair is a mess. When he reaches us, he stops, taking in Andi. “Hey, Andi.”
“Hi. It’s… Cory, right?” She asks, waving.
“Yeah. This is…” He turns and points at the girl, scratching his head. The bastard doesn’t remember her name.
“Jenni.” The girl finally says, when Levins comes up blank.
“Hi, Jenni,” Andi says. “So where do you work?” She takes Jenni’s hand and they sit down on the couch together.
“I’m a bartender at an Italian place in the city,” Jenni says.
“No way! I used to bartend. It put me through college.”
“The tips are seriously so good.”
Levins heads for the fridge to grab a beer, and he groans. I chuckle and rub the back of my neck. Usually, he fucks a girl he’s met online and kicks her out immediately, but Andi has prevented that from happening.
I head to the living room and sit beside Andi on the three-cushioned couch. She leans into me a bit, drinking her beer as she chats with Jenni. “It was nice meeting you, Andi. I should get going, though. I have a shift I need to get ready for,” Jenni says.
Levins sees her out, giving me a glare. Once she’s gone, Andi lets out a laugh. “Man. It’s a full house here.”
“Get your woman, Black.” Levins scowls, and runs a hand through his brown hair.
“I’m just fucking around.” She turns around to glance at him. “She was pretty. Not the serious type, though?”
“I don’t do serious.” He drops onto the love seat across from us, grabbing the remote. “What about you, Andi? Dom, the serious type for you?”
Her smile fades as she clears her throat and shifts uncomfortably. “Don’t listen to him,” Terry cuts in from the recliner across the living room. “Cory’s fear of monogamy stems from his lack of a mother as a child.”
“So, what’s Dom’s excuse, then?” Andi says dryly. After it’s silent for a moment, she smirks and nudges me in the side with her elbow. “I was joking,” she sighs. “So, obviously, you have a brother. You had told me you were an only child and your parents were dead. Are they really alive?”
I nod as I drink my beer. “They are. Gregory and Alice are retired. Dad was a cop too.”
She fiddles with the label on the beer bottle and I can tell she has more questions, more than she wants to say, but she remains silent. Her phone buzzes in her pocket, and she pulls it out and stands up.
“Hey baby. How did your cookies turn out?” She asks, walking into the kitchen. It’s far enough away that she has privacy, but I can still hear her. She chats with her daughter a bit more and then her demeanor changes as her ex gets on the line.
“Yeah. She was nice. It went well. I’m happy for you.” She pauses, her face turning red. “No, Matt. I was very cordial. I’m not sure what she told you… okay, I don’t have time for this right now. Kiss her goodnight for me.”
I keep track of her out of the corner of my eye as she comes back to the couch. She tries to hide her emotions, but I can sense the frustration coming off her in waves. I lean forward, my lips against her ear, to whisper. “Are you okay?”
“No.” She shakes her head and her jaw clenches. I can see the tears she’s forcing back.Whatever her ex said has her stressed. I want to help her, but I know she won’t talk about it in front of anyone else.
I stand and grab her hand, pulling her up from the couch. She glances at me, confused, as I drag her down the hallway. We pass the bathroom on the right and Levins’ room, then drag her into mine. It’s the master bedroom, but extremely small compared to hers.
