Page 45 of Solanum

"It's the best thing." She licked the brownie from her spoon while wagging her brows at me.

I laughed softly, shaking my head before gazing back out over the lights shimmering along the surface of the water. Nora's energy flowed with mine, and we rested there together, watching a small boat float into the harbor.

Nora leaned against me again, this time much more so, and I set my empty container down on the railing. I wrapped my arm around her, and right away, she dropped her head down on my shoulder. I pressed my cheek against her head, allowing the fragrance of her sweet shampoo to comfort me how it always used to.

It wasn't long before she slid almost in front of me so that I held her from behind. I rested my chin on her shoulder and she hugged my arms as we stood there sharing the darkening of night. Time seemed to pass slower with the two of us tangled in the familiar way, and when we finally parted, she linked her arm with mine on our walk back to the car.

"Thank you for tonight," she said, when I pulled us back out onto the road. "It was really special spending it with you."

"Right back at you." I winked at her and she smiled, watching me with her head leaned back on the headrest. "Where am I dropping you? Home or at Maya's?"

"How about…neither?" And there went her lip between her teeth.

"'Kay. I'll just leave you at the marina then." I jerked the brakes and she laughed, bracing herself against the dashboard.

"Caroline," she reprimanded. "This is why Wilkinson hates when you drive."

"The car is just an extension of my weapon and prowess." I laughed hard, completely amused by the situation as always.

"So, essentially, it's your dick like a middle-aged man unhappy with his life."

"Correct," I said, nodding with it. "So technically you're riding in my dick tonight."

"Gross." She huffed and puffed the way she did at the onset of a micro tantrum. My favorite.

"Aw, c'mon, girl. You love riding in dick just as much as on dick."

"Car! Oh my God." She shoved my arm and I totally lost it, cracking up at the ridiculous conversation. "I hate you so much."

"Then my job is done."

Eventually she smirked, and I drove like a regular person instead of a douchebag the rest of the way toward her place and mine since we lived in the same direction. When I rolled to a stop at the light that divided our homestretch, she glanced at me.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Okay then." I turned toward her apartment and pulled around back to the rear entrance connected to the parking lot when we arrived. I stopped in the visitor space closest to the door.

She hesitated when I parked the car, her hands held close to her chest.

"C'mon. I'll walk you up. It's late." I nodded to the building and cut the engine.

"All right." The offer seemed to unlock her, and she grabbed her leftovers from the back seat before I met her around the other side.

She led me up the four flights of stairs to her place, glancing over her shoulder when we made it to her floor. "I'm totally getting a first-floor condo."

I laughed, nodding my agreement. "Damn sure. There might only be four flights but there's like fifty steps in each or something."

"Right? This place is insane." She unlocked the door to reveal her excessively tidy living space.

I hadn't been there in a while, a few weeks at best when picking her up for work, but her level of neatness seemed to change dramatically. She slipped out of her coat and hung it up on the rack beside the door.

"Want to stay for a few? I can make coffee." She gestured toward the kitchen after sticking her leftovers in the fridge.

I folded my arms over my chest while surveying her. "Are you asking me because you want me to stay or just to be cordial?"

Immediately, her posture shifted, pulling her energy inward. She bent her knee, the toe of her boot tapping the floor once.

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