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Hailey smiled as she let out a breath she seemed to have been holding. “Great. I’ll fix us some bowls, if you want to find the game on the TV.”
Landon’s heart beat at a rhythm he hadn’t known before as he made his way to the couch. Maybe he would eat and leave. Hailey would understand. Wouldn’t she? He had some work to get caught up on. They could eat, and he could stay for the first quarter. Then make his excuses to leave. Carter probably needed her attention anyway.
“What do you want to drink?” Hailey interrupted his thoughts with the question.
He held up his drink. “I brought my own.”
She shook her head. “You and that Diet Coke.”
“Yeah, I know. I should give it up, but I don’t want to. It keeps me going.”
“I guess there are worse things.”
“You mean like the four cups of coffee you drink every day?”
She swatted at him playfully. “I don’t have four.”
“How many do you have?”
“Two,” she said.
He tilted his head and gave her the side eye.
“Okay, sometimes three, but it’s still not four.”
Landon laughed. It felt nice to tease her. “And I don’t have four Diet Cokes every day, so see, I’m fine.”
Hailey rolled her eyes at him as she walked to the kitchen and returned with two bowls of soup.
“What? You mean we can eat this on the couch? I thought there was a strict no drinks or foods that are liquid on the couch rule.”
She shrugged. “It’s for the kids, but since they aren’t here, I can let it go this once.”
He didn’t need a reminder that the kids weren’t there. It was pulsating the entire room. He had never heard it this quiet. He reached for the remote. “Guess I’ll turn on the game.” He found the channel and sat back in his seat. For a while, he managed to sip his bowl of soup and act like he was intensely interested in the commentators.
“Yeah,” he agreed with one of the announcers, “That was definitely off-sides.” He enjoyed watching the game, but right now it felt like a lot of work. How long could he sit there and avoid talking to the woman who felt so close and so faraway at once? He cut his eyes at her and noticed that, if he just reached his hand out, he could take her hand. What would that be like? If only he wasn’t too scared to find out.
The game went to a commercial break, and he stood, picking up his empty bowl. “Are you done? Want me to take these to the kitchen?” He heard his voice and knew he was talking too fast.
Hailey nodded but gave him a strange look.
He placed the bowls in the sink and wondered what he should do now. It was barely ten minutes into the game. If he left now, it would be awkward. Even more awkward than it already was.
“Hey,” Hailey said from the couch. “Are you okay?”
He brushed his hands off and stuck them in his pockets. “Yeah, sure.”
Hailey stood and moved to the counter. “It’s kind of quiet, isn’t it?”
He took in a breath and blew it out. “Yeah, it feels strange.”
She nodded. “I know. I’m not used to it.”
“Do you really want to watch the game? I don’t want to interrupt your quiet evening. Would you rather be alone to watch a movie or just sit in the quiet?”
Haley placed her hands on the counter and for a moment she stared down at them. When she looked up, he couldn’t understand the emotion when her eyes met his. When she spoke, there was a quiver in her voice. “I don’t ever want to be alone.”
That was his undoing. Landon moved to the side of the counter and wrapped her in a hug. At first, she kept her hands balled up into fists against his chest. He didn’t speak, or move, but slowly she released her fists and moved her hands to return his hug by wrapping her arms around his waist.
