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“Hey.” Ben paused at the door to the bathroom. “You know that no matter what, nothing will change between us, right?”
I bit my bottom lip. “Is that a fact?”
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
“Not even last night?”
“Nothing. Ever.” His confidence almost convinced me he was telling the truth. He shot me a grin before closing the door behind him and I hoped that was true.
CHAPTER14
Ben
I knockedon Thea’s front door as I fit in the key and pushed open the door.
“Hey,” I called upstairs. “Thea, it’s me!”
“I’m running late!” she called back, her voice muffled from upstairs.
I set down the warm casserole I brought with me before bounding up to find her. The door to her childhood bedroom stood open and I paused in front, looking around inside.
She’d changed the room into a closet sometime last winter, well after her clothes had overwhelmed the tiny walk-in closet in the room, and I convinced her she should finally move into the primary bedroom. Still, she’d left remnants of her childhood bedroom intact: a gymnastics trophy on the dresser, a photo mural on the wall, a framed photo of her mom rocking punk clothes in the middle of a mosh pit blown above the bed.
“There you are,” Thea said, padding into the room. Her hair was still in curlers, but her makeup was done. She wore a bright pink shirtdress with white lapels and a matching white belt. She’d undone the top two buttons, a deep v sending my eyes directly to her chest.
“Sorry, I got a little distracted.” My cheeks burned as I pulled my eyes away.
“Did you?” She pursed her lips, hiding a smirk. “Well, no matter. I’m running a little late, anyway.”
A little bit late was Thea code for at least fifteen minutes but no more than thirty. Mom had long ago grown accustomed to Thea’s tardiness and wouldn’t have dinner on the table for another half hour at least.
“So…” She dragged out the word. “Did you want to head over to your parents or wait for me?”
My ears perked at the phrasing and I shook my head. “I’ll wait. What did you break?”
She grinned. “I pulled the paper towel holder out of the wall last week. Do you mind putting it back up?”
I sighed. “Alright, She-hulk. I’m going to anchor it this time, but if it happens again, I’m getting you a paper towel stand instead.”
She smiled, setting her hand on my shoulder and rising on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek.She pulled back without giving me the opportunity to wrap an arm around her waist.
“Um, yeah. Thanks.”
She wouldn’t have thought twice about kissing me like that last week. Or during our weekend at the resort. But now, back in our hometown, in a house we both grew up in, nothing seemed quite so clear cut. Well, to Thea anyway.
Any hesitations on my end had fallen away the morning we woke up together. Having her in my arms, her soft body pressed against mine, felt impossibly right. Unmistakably right. And now, I just needed Thea to come to that same conclusion. We’d been friends for twenty-seven years. What was a little more time?
Retracing my steps back downstairs, I shoved the casserole in the microwave and examined the paper towel holder with a sigh. She’d yanked the drywall screws straight out of the wall, so I’d need some spackle and a small jar of kitchen paint to patch the holes as well. I pulled my toolbox out of the hall closet and collected supplies in the garage.
By the time I applied the spackle and screwed the paper towel holder into the cabinets, she emerged from upstairs, hair done and shoes on.
“I don’t know if I like it there,” she said, narrowing her eyes as she examined the new home for the holder.
“Well, you’ve pulled it out of the wall three times now.” I pointed out the now-filled holes. “You just can’t tell because I do such quality work.”
She grinned. “You really do. What would I do without you?”
“You’d need to hire a handyman, that’s for sure.”
