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No answer. No movement on the inside. Yes, he’d pressed his ear to the door to listen. Yes, he’d realized how creepy that would make him look if any of her neighbors had happened to open their doors while he was doing it. Hadn’t stopped him. Unfortunately, he’d had to come to the conclusion she wasn’t home.
So he sat out on his balcony until about ten o’clock. Somehow sitting on his balcony wasn’t really something he did much of, even though part of the reason he’d chosen the apartment was because it had a nice balcony. Private. Not adjacent to any of his neighbors. Bonus: it looked out over the parking lot. When Maria finally got off work and came home, he’d be able to see her coming in.
Of course she’d be able to see him too, but he was okay with that.
He was feeling more balanced now. Less raw. Like he could handle it if she gave him the friends talk. Although, he was hoping maybe he’d misread the situation.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. That was his motto for tonight. He hoped he’d misread the situation and once they talked today she’d have a good reason for putting off talking to him last night. But he wasn’t going to get all amped up just in case he hadn’t been the one to misunderstand.
After way too long with his thoughts, staring up at a sky whose stars he could barely see because of all the lights from the apartment complex, Rick had gone back inside and sat down in front of the television. Obviously Maria was coming home late tonight. Maybe the night manager had called out. Or maybe she’d accepted a date with some other guy. Yeah, he knew he was being kind of illogical.
That’s why he’d turned the TV on. Distraction, pure and simple. Although it was just soundless noise and meaningless shapes because he wasn’t really paying attention to it at all. Still it helped him fuzz out his brain. Sink into the couch. Let his thoughts go and clear his head.
So when someone pounded on his door, it came as a bit of a shock to his system. Even more shocking were the giggles that followed immediately afterwards.
“Rick! Rick, I know you’re in there, open up!”
It was Maria’s voice, but different. The words slightly slurred. A slower cadence. Rick practically vaulted over the back of his sofa and was at his door in two steps, a frown already forming on his face. Was she drunk? And who was giggling?
Whatever he’d expected to see when he opened the door, it definitely wasn’t Maria leaning against the door jamb with Lexie and Angel standing just a foot behind her, leaning against each other for support.
“What—“
“You!” Maria poked her finger into the center of his chest, pushing herself up to stand straight, as she cut him off. “We are talking! Communicating.”
“Um....” Rick rubbed his chest, his other hand still on his door, as he took in the scene. Shit, he needed to get all three of them inside. Angel and Lexie’s giggles were getting louder and while Maria hadn’t exactly shouted her demand, she wasn’t quiet about it either. “Right. All three of you, in here, now.”
Sticking her chin up in the air, Maria swanned past him, only stumbling slightly, her gait definitely unsteady. Rick pinched the bridge of his nose where he could already feel a headache forming as Angel and Lexie passed him, both weaving as they walked. The three of them were completely wasted. Digging into his pocket, he watched the very drunk trio stumble their way to his couch, falling onto it like a pile of unruly puppies, while he sent identical text messages to two recipients.
She’s at my place and she’s wasted.
What he really wanted to say was ‘get your ass over here now so I don’t have to deal with this,’ but he knew what he’d actually sent would get faster results.
The giggling, feminine pile of limbs and bodies just made him sigh. This was not how he’d expected to talk to Maria tonight. He’d expected her sober and without back-up. Although at least he should feel grateful Angel had been giggling and not plotting mayhem.
He was going to have to keep an eye out for Legos.
Looking at a giggling Lexie, who had somehow ended up on the bottom of the pile and was currently fighting her way to the top, he amended that thought: and glitter.
Something occurred to him that made him frown again.
“How did you all get here?”
“Cabbed it. From Olivia’s,” Angel said, grinning gleefully. Kind of vindictively actually. He glanced down at the floor as he made his way to the ottoman in front of the couch, so he could face it. No Legos. Yet. “Hilary and Jessica didn’t come. They didn’t want to get in trouble.” She drawled the last word, which made the others burst into more giggles.
Rick couldn’t help the smile breaking through, even though he was trying to look stern. They were all cute, piled up, and drunkenly happy. Maria’s eyes met his and she scowled again. Which was also kind of cute, not that he was dumb enough to mention it.
“You!” She pointed her finger at him again. The other two immediately quieted, expectant expressions on their faces, like they were waiting for Maria to make some grand pronouncement. “You are a dumbass.” Angel and Lexie nodded their agreement.
He raised his eyebrows at all three of them. “Alright.”
This was definitely not the time to argue. Not when it looked like Maria was having trouble just stringing together sentences. Best thing to do in this situation was just sit tight and wait for his own back-up to arrive.
“I like you. And you could’ve had aaaaaaall this.” Maria’s words were accompanied by the most hilariously awkward sexy gyration he’d ever seen, even if it hadn’t been hampered by Angel leaning on her side and Lexie half on her lap. Granted, “all that” was looking pretty hot in her work attire, which consisted of a dark blue cotton blouse and creamy linen pants that looked business casual but would also allow her to keep cool in the summer’s heat. Somehow Rick managed to keep a straight face though, even though he was definitely beginning to see the amusement in the situation. “You and your talking. And non-talking.”
Okay. So he’d gotten it wrong. Maria liked him. At the very least. And somehow he doubted she’d show up this drunk at his door to tell him so unless she meant as more than friends. On one hand, he was relieved. On the other hand, he wished she’d been a little bit more forthcoming last night rather than shutting him down right after the scene. It would have saved both of them a lot of angst today.
Rick nodded his head amiably. “Yeah, we should talk. Probably tomorrow.”
