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“He just walked in. But maybe I’m a little psychic too. You never know.” Shannon winked, then pulled at her skirt a little. “Still got my condom in your pocket?”
“I do. But we really need to get you a skirt with pockets.” Deep snorted as her friend flipped her hair over her shoulder. Shannon was an ID-in-her-bra-and-no-purse kind of girl.
“That’s next year Shannon’s problem. Wish me luck!”
“Luck!”
With that, she was gone, leaving Deep to lament her choices on New Year’s Eve… again. She knew better than to go out with Shannon, but the idea of sitting in her cramped little flat in Italy with no one she knew well and a mediocre—but improving—grasp on the language seemed too pathetic to bear. She’d just have to make a new friend.
Taking a slow sip of champagne, Deep turned to watch the city sparkling below. For a city known primarily as a capitalist safe haven, it sure was beautiful. With its medieval architecture and the frigid air running off the river, she had to admit she wished she weren’t getting back on the train in the morning.
“Deep?”
Whipping her head left, she looked to see who called her name. She knew that voice. Would probably still know it one hundred years from now.
“Hi, Tim.”
“It is you.” A grin spread across his face so quickly that it was refreshing. There was no guile with this one. What he thought at that very moment was exactly what was happening. She liked that about him.
“You doubted it?” Deep smiled back and turned to face him, leaning on the wall that hemmed in the roof.
“You look different.” She frowned slightly, and he rushed to add, “In a good way. I like your haircut. What’s new? I haven’t seen you in, like, three years.”
That was true. After they kissed, Deep had gone out of her way to avoid his enthusiastic waving and generally friendly overtures. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him, more that she’d made a promise to focus on herself. And it worked. She now had the major she wanted, and a job lined up as a junior buyer for the New York arm of a Bergdorf competitor.
But if she was honest, it was more than that. There was something about him that just saidproceed with caution. This one was different, and if she wasn’t careful, she could spoil it for both of them. Better to keep him at arm’s length until she was ready to settle down, or she’d break both their hearts.
“I guess it has been a while.” Deep smiled as another icy blast hit them. In hindsight, she should have worn a real coat, not the fashion coat that looked warm but was basically a throw blanket with sleeves. “How have you been?”
“Good. I’m studying in Berlin. I like it. It’s a really interesting tech scene and I’m interning with this guy who started his own security company. I’m not technically supposed to be working, but I don’t mind not getting paid since I’m learning more there than I am in class.” Tim snort-laughed. It was dorky. And oddly hot.
Deep gave her head a shake. “As long as you don’t run afoul of some German labor law that lands you in jail.”
“I think the government has bigger issues.” Tim shrugged. “So, what have you been up to? Social media says you changed majors.”
“Yeah, I dropped bio almost as soon as I left your room.” Deep laughed and pushed her hair away from her face, only to regret it when the cold rushed to suck the warmth from her skin. Fighting the urge to yell, ‘It’s freezing!’ and demand they go inside, she started to fill Tim in, letting the time until midnight slip away in between sharing details about her disastrous trip up the Alaskan Highway with her mother and hearing about his idea to start a company around the very bug he’d been hunting the last time they’d spent New Year’s together.
“So, that’s the plan. Turning anti-social behavior into my job.”
Tim giggled, and it snagged on her mind. There was that silly laugh again. Deep tried to focus on the way he’d changed since the last time she’d seen him and not on how the sound seemed to hum through her, turning on part of her she would rather leave off right now. He’d cut his hair short, which suited him, although she missed the mop of curls. He’d also filled out a little, although not much. He was still wiry, even wrapped in layers. For a moment, they both just stood there, smiling at one another; the silence feeling both comfortable and peculiar after years of unspoken words.
“Can I ask you something?” Tim asked as Deep finished her glass of champagne.
“Of course.”
“Did I do something? Because it sort of felt like maybe you were avoiding me for a while. And I know miss social cues sometimes, but I really do like being your friend, and—”
“Oh. No. It wasn’t you.” Deep cut in as guilt flooded her. She had hoped she was more subtle than she apparently was. Not that subtlety had ever been one of her hallmarks, but she really had tried on this one. “I just thought maybe you liked me as more than a friend…”
“And that was so bad that you stopped speaking to me?”
“No. Not bad like that.” Heat crept up her neck. Deep wasn’t used to floundering like this. “It actually wouldn’t have been a problem, but I just don’t want to be tied down right now. And you seem like casual isn’t your thing.”
“That’s not true. I can be very casual.”
“You reported bugs in code on New Year’s instead of going to a party.”
“That was just that one time. I’ve relaxed since then.” Tim nodded, taking a step closer to her. Deep very much doubted he’d gotten any less relaxed since then, but she let him come closer. She wanted it to be true, and she wanted his body… heat. Body heat. She amended the thought, a shiver running through her that had less to do with the cold than she cared to admit.
