Page 213 of Tease Me


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“Nothing wrong with having some fun once in a while,” she said. “You said you didn’t want to talk about it, but if—”

“I don’t,” he said, easing away to pick up his coffee. “I want to talk about you having fun.”

If he wasn’t what she knew he was, she may have taken those words and the light in his eyes as a different kind of mischief.

“Talking about having fun,” she said, eating a piece of cake herself. “You will never believe who I got an email from yesterday. Well, he actually sent it like two weeks ago, but I just dragged it out my junk folder when I was looking for something else.” She rested her chin on her shoulder to add, “I forgot I spammed his ass after we broke up.”

“Demetri?” he asked, straightening up.

“Demetri,” she said, cutting another chunk of cake with the side of the fork. They were fast running out of cake. “Can you believe it? Months of radio silence and then just out of the blue…”

“What did he want?”

She put down the fork to have a drink instead. “Just checking in, or so he said.”

“Did you reply?”

“Sure.” Alex seemed surprised. “When my relationships end, I get mad or sad, stay that way for a while and then…” She shrugged. “I don’t hold grudges. I’m friends with every guy I dated.”

“Every guy?”

His astonishment wasn’t an unusual reaction. “Gwenie makes it a point not to be friendly with her exes. Tia doesn’t really get the chance since most of her break ups are so messy. But I don’t know, I guess in my case, in the long run, I realize the breakups were for the best.”

“For the best?”

Acutely aware that he’d just separated from his partner, she had to be careful. Her horrible habit of saying the wrong thing in the wrong moment could hurt him more than he’d already been hurt.

“Have you done any work today?” she asked. “I don’t know much about consulting, but I can do paperwork if you need help to keep up with things?”

Sometimes when grieving a relationship, it was impossible to focus, even on tasks that were important.

“Don’t change the subject,” Alex said, catching her in the act. “I want to know. Why were your breakups for the best?”

The conversation was one she’d had many times with Gwen and Tia. “Because they couldn’t give me what I wanted… I’d never have been happy, so I’d never have been able to make them happy.”

“That’s important to you.”

“Of course it is,” she said, bowing over the table as she popped the lid of her cup to tip some slush into her mouth. “Happiness is what life’s all about. It shouldn’t come at the detriment of others’ happiness, but, yeah, that should be everyone’s aspiration. Happiness.”

He leaned closer. “And what is it that would make you happy? What do you want, Button?”

“We need more cake,” she said, pushing out her chair. “Wait here and I’ll get it.”

Alex needed a friend. One who didn’t rabbit on about relationships while he was still raw. She could do it; she could be a friend. It wasn’t in her blood to abandon someone in need. Right then, and maybe for a while, Alex needed her.

9

That night, after going home to change and pack some supplies, she stopped to pick up way more food than they’d ever need. Her destination? Alex’s apartment. Friendship with her meant the good times and the bad. She’d be supportive, no matter what he needed.

Knocking on his front door, she waited. Was this overstepping? It could be too much. Too much was better than too little any day. In this circumstance anyway.

He answered wearing a frown, but she was already smiling, keeping her mood high.

She held up the bag of food. “I have Chinese food,” she said. “Are you hungry?” He didn’t say anything, and the frown was still there. A sign of overstepping? Maybe she should explain herself. “You need to know you’re not alone right now…” Saying those words prompted a thought, “are you alone right now?”

“What?” he asked, apparently coming out of some trance or hypnotic reflection. “Alone? Yes, I’m alone.” Stepping back, he gestured inside. “Come on in.”

“Thank you,” she said, exaggerating her gratitude as she stepped inside. Putting the food on the counter, she toed off her shoes and dumped her gym bag on the island next to it. “I brought ice cream too.” She unzipped the bag. “It’s in there. Will you put it in the freezer, please?”

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