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I worried my bottom lip. “Actually, about school.” He grinned expectantly, making me wish I didn’t need to finish the sentence. “I’m not going to sign up for next semester. I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t even remember how to study.”
“We’ll get tutors.”
“I failed before.”
He shrugged. “You won’t this time.”
“What if I’m just wasting your money like I wasted Len’s?” The question tumbled out before I could rein it in.
The application sat on my dresser untouched since Andy placed it there, and whenever I moved to fill it out, I was overwhelmed by visions of my last failed attempt.
“I’ll just find a job. Cal said my car is all fixed, so I can pay him back and save money until we…”
I cut myself off before I could finish the sentence, but judging by the frown on his face, Andy understood the rest.Until we divorce.
“So, you don’t want to be a nurse?”
“I do. It’s just, if I fail, I don’t think I can handle the disappointment.” Or, more accurately,hisdisappointment. “Besides, this will work out just as well. I can start saving money while I live here, enough to avoid getting evicted from my next apartment.”
The joke landed with a wet thud, the furrow on Andy’s forehead growing deeper. “Is that really what you want?”
Of course not. I didn’t want another minimum wage job working for a jerk like Gary.
“Not really,” I admitted. “But I tried going to school before and failed.”
The furrow smoothed. “When?”
“Five years ago.”
“Okay. So, would you agree things are a little different now? Maybe you didn’t do well fresh out of high school. I hate to break it to you, but lots of people nearly failed out of college. Myself included.”
“I’m not joking, Andy.”
“I’m serious. I failed two of my classes freshman year and had to stay an extra year just to catch up.” He shrugged, then picked up the cast iron pan from the floor. “It’ll take as long as it takes. If you think being a full-time student is too much, just sign up for a few classes. But don’t give up entirely.”
I sighed, closing my eyes and tilting my head back before righting myself. “Fine. Fine. I’ll fill out the paperwork tomorrow. But that means I probably won’t be making dinner every night.”
He laughed, an intensely sexy laugh that made my stomach twist into knots. “I think I’ll live. In fact, I’ll cook tomorrow. You haven’t given me a chance to prove that I’m not awful in the kitchen.”
“Not awful?” I echoed. “That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.”
“Well, prepare to be pleasantly surprised.” He swept up the last of the potatoes. “Now, let me slice this pork loin, and I’ll make to-go sandwiches while you change. Unless this Survival and Social Club thing is so low-key, you’ll be fine showing up covered in potato seasoning and oil.”
I looked down. Sure enough, I’d coated myself in a mess of potato spices. “Fine, you handle dinner. I’ll get changed.”
* * *
We pulled into the parking lot of Bob’s Cars. For the first time since Thea had suggested a weekly meet-up at the convenience store years ago, I didn’t have a familiar zip of excitement. It had been entirely replaced by a nervous energy that consumed me.
“You okay?” Andy asked as he shut off the car. He’d kept one eye on me the entire drive. I didn’t blame him. I could barely sit still, my nerves shot and my body anxious.
“Yeah, we just haven’t had to…” After the trip to New York, the term “pretend” no longer fit our relationship, and I stumbled over describing how we needed to act in public. “You know, in a while.”
He shrugged, unbothered. “We convinced everyone in New York.”
“But they didn’tknowus. We could have acted like strangers, and maybe they would have just assumed we weren’t a cuddly couple.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t we a cuddly couple?”
