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She laughs. “I like your company, and I think you’d really annoy them,” she says.
Swallowing hard, I fill up the water chamber. She enjoys my company? Positive comments don’t come my way in the normal run of things, which is why I like hanging out with Janus. I see myself in a different way when I’m with him; he pulls me out of my tendency for negative introspection. I screw the top back on the pot and place it on the stovetop, gripping the edge of the counter and closing my eyes as warmth swarms through my chest. I’m not insulted by the idea I’d rub them up the wrong way: No family on earth would approve of me.
“Why do you want to annoy them?”
She sighs into the phone, and the sound of her breath tickles my ear before running all the way across my shoulders and down my arms. I flick the switch, and the blue flame roars to life under the coffeepot.
“I just think they have a narrow view on how people should live their lives, and I like to shake them up every now and again.” I can imagine her shrug over the line. “That makes me sound like a terrible daughter.”
This is a mad idea, but I’ve not met her family and they could all be assholes. The thought of spending time with Kate … I’m so tempted … but I’m also not supposed to be goingthere. But this would also be the perfect distraction from the systems I’m trying to get into, and from wondering who the fuck was asking around about me.
“I’ve never been to a wedding.”
“You’ve never been to a …”
Way too revealing, that little comment. I barrel on. “How many days?”
“Probably two or three, a weekend?” Her voice lifts, like she’s hoping I’ll say yes.
“When is it?”
There’s a long pause. “The weekend after next actually.”
Only two weeks away? Woah. “You want me to do this? I might not behave very well. I’m not known for my subtlety or my impulse control. I experiment with drugs … you know that.”
She laughs again. “It’d be fun though, right?”
“Anything with you would be fun,” I say, as the pot starts spitting and the coffee bubbles up inside.
Her laugh is infused with joy this time. “You’re an unusual guy for thinking that,” she says, and I raise my eyebrows at the orange cupboards above my head. Surely, guys have been falling over themselves to tell her she’s great since the dawn of time.
“Normally, I’m told I’m uptight. I don’t think anyone has seen me as a fun person before.”
She does come across as serious, but I can see the twinkle in her eye; she’s lively and knowledgeable and …
“Jo calls me ‘Dr. Dull.’ We joke about it but—”
“Well, I’d say you’re anything but dull. I’d love to spend a weekend with you, Kate.” Because goddammit, I would.
“That sounded like a yes,” she says, and I can hear the grin in her voice.
“It’s a fuck, yes,” I say, and oh! “… Wait. Do we get to share a bedroom?”
There’s silence on the other end of the line. Like she’s wondering why the hell I’m suggesting this when I’ve told her this is going nowhere. And did I foolishly agree to be friends? This is already an accident waiting to happen. The whole weekend will be torture.
But all I get is a dry chuckle. “Guys,” she says, “why does it always come back to that one thing?”
10
Fabian
Three days later and a day spent pacing the apartment, doing a thirteen-mile run and not concentrating on any code, I ring Kate and ask her to meet me for dinner to discuss logistics. So now I’m in Rocco’s, a little Italian place that sits midway between her place and mine. I’m taking in the red-checkered tablecloths, candles, wooden chairs, and the bar, and wondering if the vibe’s a little too romantic for this … whateverthisis.Friends, Fabian. I groan. I’m crap at keeping to any kind of rules. If there’s a line, I will always step over it.
I glance out of the window at the street, trying to work out whether anyone is watching the restaurant. All the way here I was wondering whether I was being followed. I diverted a couple of times, but nobody looked in the least bit interested.Stop being so paranoid.
My phone buzzes on the table, and I pick it up to see a dark head bent over a sidewalk: a picture of Janus throwing up the one time I took him out to do parkour.
“Janus.”
