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“They’re your friends too,” Clark said.
He seemed to mean it.
“If that’s true, then I feel lucky,” I said. “I’ve never had that kind of friend. In high school, I was mainly friends with people because I was on the basketball team, you know? I had one close friend growing up, but his family moved away my sophomore year. After that, it was just all…kind of…superficial.”
“What about in college? Or in Minneapolis?”
“I’m still tight with a roommate from school, but he lives in Chicago. And life in Minneapolis was complicated. I had casual work friends, but nothing deeper. My career took up a lot of time, and Holly needed the rest.”
Clark sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve lost touch with some friends too. I talked to one today actually. A teacher friend from Omaha.”
“Is that why you seemed a little down when you got here tonight?”
“I guess so. It was difficult to revisit the past.” He looked up at me. “I’m glad we reconnected though. Maybe you’ll reconnect with some of your friends too.”
I pulled him close and rested my chin on his silky hair. “Maybe, but if not, I’m okay with it. I’ve got you, and you’re worth ten of any of them.”
“Just ten?” he asked playfully as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“A hundred,” I corrected. “A thousand.”
He huffed a quiet laugh against my chest, and I stepped back so I could see his face. “You’re worth just about everything to me. My second-favorite person in the world.”
“Second?”
“Toby is first.”
“Naturally.”
“But you squeezed out my parents by a hair.”
He laughed. “And what about Kevin?”
“He’s somewhere in the middle,” I joked, “but if he ever asks, tell him he’s first. I don’t want to die from a stiletto through the heart.”
“A valid concern,” Clark said with a smile. “For what it’s worth, you’re my Number Two person too.”
“Who’s first?”
“Nana. Always. She raised me after my parents divorced. They fought over me like a bone until she stepped in, then they left me without a second glance. She’s held me together more times than I can count,” he said with a watery chuckle. “I complained about her matchmaking, but she only did it because she loves me so damn much.”
“I can see that,” I said. “You’re lucky to have her. But she’s not the only one you have now.”
He wrapped his arms around my neck, going up on tiptoe to kiss me. “No, somehow, I’ve got this amazing boyfriend. It feels too good to be true.”
I didn’t like the melancholy tone to his words, so I kissed him again, then again, until a catcall broke us apart and Clark laughed. “Guess we better break this up. Bad enough we give window peep shows. I don’t want to get arrested for public indecency.”
I snorted. “Good call. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Sleep well.”
“Oh, I intend to rest up. Next opportunity, I want you to put your tool to work.” I winked. “You can hammer my ass instead of my walls.”
He groaned, blushing. “That was bad, even for you.”
“I know, but you’re picturing it, aren’t you?”
“Busted.”
