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Whatever is happening here is weird and uncomfortable, yet it’s the most comfortable thing I’ve ever felt. I both dislike and am enamored with Memphis in equal measure.
As we walk, his arm brushes mine a few more times than necessary, and each time, I feel a little twinge somewhere deep inside my chest.
* * *
It’s midafternoon before we get back to the house, our stomachs full of pastries and coffee from the local coffee shop and bags full of groceries and books.
We’ve decided to make a full spread for dinner. Logan and Memphis are going to cook steak and vegetables while Mara, Paulette, and I prepare the drinks—cranberry orange whiskey sours—and Austin is on salad duty.
While we work, Logan turns on the audiobook he just got from his library, one we all agree we’ve been waiting to read. We work in silence, zoning out to the narrator’s smooth voice, the sizzling of the meat in Memphis’s skillet, and the rhythmicchop, chop, chopof Austin’s knife against the wooden cutting board as he slices and dices the vegetables for our salad.
“So, I was thinking we should do a collab,” Paulette tells Mara and me, keeping her voice low. “Like the three of us review the same book in a post and maybe do a giveaway. We could do a different book for each of our pages and a giveaway for each.”
“Oooh,” Mara sings. She bumps Paulette’s hip with hers, then mine. “I amin. That sounds like fun.”
“Maybe we could do it with books we bought here, so we could take a photo of the three of us with each book. Like a group photo,” I add.
“Yes, that’s smart!” Mara claps me on the back. “I love it.”
“I’d talked to Ethan about doing that before,” I say. “So, I can’t take all the credit for it. We were planning to take a few photos together this weekend with books we’ve both loved and share them throughout the year.”
“You two are pretty close, aren’t you?” Mara asks, looking at me with a sly grin. “Memphis is going to bejealous.”
“Shhh!” At the mention of him, I look up to find his eyes on me from across the room. I know he couldn’t possibly have heard her, but the idea sends a chill over me. “Don’t be silly. No one is jealous.”
Paulette and Mara exchange knowing glances, their lips pursed.
“Anyway,” I go on, “yes, we’re close. I mean, same as the rest of us. I was looking forward to finally getting to meet him.”
She lifts her eyebrows playfully. “Meethim, hm?”
“M-e-a-t, maybe,” Paulette adds with a cackle, and Mara nudges her with an approving look.
“Yeah, she was.” She nods her head, rocking her hips toward the table like she’d done upstairs yesterday about Memphis.
I groan. “Shut up, you two. You’re the worst.”
“You ladies seem like you’re up to no good over there,” Austin says, drawing our attention to him.
“We were just talking about Ethan,” Paulette tells him quickly.
“Yeah, just saying how sad it is that he couldn’t make it,” I add before she can say anything more humiliating.
“He mentioned that the funeral is today, so he might try to stop by Saturday night if he’s feeling up to it, but I don’t really expect him to make it. I remember how crazy my grandmother’s funeral was, and my parents’ funerals too. There was no way I was up for traveling immediately after,” Austin says, returning to chopping a stalk of celery.
“Where would he stay?” Logan asks. “All of the rooms are full.”
Austin shrugs. “Couch, I guess.”
Mara’s stare burns into me, and when I look over, she nudges her tongue into her cheek. “He could stay in Lena’s room,” she offers too loudly.
I shove into her playfully. “Hush.”
“Aww, we can’t have little ole Lena giving up her bed,” Austin says. “I’ll be a gentleman and let him have mine. I don’t mind crashing on the couch.” He eyes me. “Unless you were planning to share it with him?”
BANG.
Every head in the room turns toward where Memphis is preparing the steaks. He quickly picks up the jar of seasoning he dropped on the stove without a look in our direction. “Sorry. Slipped out of my hand.”
