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“What’s the big deal? It would just be on paper, and it’s not like it would be forever. You said yourself you could get a kidney any day. Then you wouldn’t need the company’s coverage anymore, and we could get a divorce. Or an annulment, I don’t really know how that works. And either way, it’s only for two years max, right? Once you have your degree and license, you’ll get a job as a dietician somewhere and have your own insurance again. We’d separate then.”
“Two years, Noah? We can’t do that. You can’t.”
“Why not?”
“What if you meet someone you want to date between now and then? You run into a nice girl at a bar and want to ask her out, but oh, wait.” She smacked the side of her head with her palm. “Can’t. You’re already married.”
He shot her a look eerily similar to the one he gave her whenever she said an outfit didn’t look good on her. Full of disbelief and borderline annoyed. “I care more about you than I do a few potential dates. What’s two years? This is your dream, Mia. Your career. Being a dietician is always what you’ve wanted to do. If I’d known you were considering going back to school, I’d have suggested it a long time ago. An opportunity like this won’t come around again. You have to take it.”
She pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes. How could he be so blasé about this? “I... No, Noah. It’s too much. You’re so sweet, but—”
He held up a hand. “Stop. Just think about it, okay? I mean this. It’s not an empty offer.”
She laughed a little. “Right. You’ve clearly given the idea of marrying me a lot of thought. Five whole minutes of it.”
“I—” he began, then seemed to think better of it. He clenched his teeth together, a muscle in his jaw flexing. He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. “I know I caught you off guard.” Something about the way he said it made her think it didn’t feel the same for him. “But just consider it. Please.”
“You’re insane.” She stood and gathered her things. “You’re my best friend and I love you, but you’re insane.”
He remained where he was and let out a frustrated breath. “I’ll give you some time to work through the idea. Are we still on for Claire’s birthday tomorrow?”
Mia wanted to laugh at the routine question, slid into the ridiculous conversation they were having. “Yeah. Claire has to work, but she still wanted to go out. She’ll meet us there at eight.”
“I’ll come by your place at seven thirty to pick you up,” he said. He rose and walked to the door, opening it for her. “I mean it, Mia. Just think about it, and be ready to give me an answer.”
That night, Mia dreamed about Noah.
She’d had the dream before...several times. In reality, it wasn’t so much a dream as a memory of that night in college. She did her best not to think about it and did a pretty good job avoiding it while awake. But when she fell into unconsciousness all bets were off, and it seemed to be one of her brain’s favorite scenes to replay, sending her back in time to that party at the Sigma Chi house.
Claire had that look in her eye. The one that landed them in detention no less than five times in high school and almost got them arrested last year. “Never have I ever wanted to kiss my best friend.”
Mia quickly focused on the rules of the game...everyone who wanted to do that had to drink.
She froze. Without thinking, her gaze jerked across the table to Noah, and her stomach flipped when she locked eyes with him.
He maintained steady eye contact as he calmly took a drink.
Her heart jumped into a sprint and heat spread up her neck. She tore her gaze away and blinked, turning her attention back to Claire.
Her friend’s perfectly arched brow raised in question.
Mia’s head spun, both from the alcohol and from the way Noah had looked at her. Did that mean he wanted to kissher?Maybe he had another best friend.
Don’t be an idiot.
She dropped her eyes to the table and lifted her own beer. She took such a big gulp she coughed, bringing more attention on herself.
Claire laughed and patted her on the back. “Well, then.” She stood, planting her hands flat on the table. “I’ll just leave you two to talk. Come on, Brad. Let’s dance.”
Brad, one of Noah’s fraternity brothers, complied, shooting Mia a wink before he set off after Claire.
Mia pulled her lips between her teeth and bobbed her knee up and down below the table. She kept her lids lowered and rotated the beer bottle between her fingers.
“Will you ever look at me again?” came Noah’s quiet voice.
Only if I know you’ll look at me like you just did.
Her voice shook. “It’s hard to say.”
