He didn’t deny that he’d run away from Rockport because of me. That newfound bitterness crept into my heart, but I didn’t know who I was directing it at. Him. My family. Me. I stepped around him, and this time, he let me go, but his words halted me as I started across the living space.
“Do I make you uncomfortable?”
Yes, I thought again. “No, Mac-Macauley. If you’re good, I’m good.”
I got to the stairs, and his voice halted me one more time. “Goodnight, Georgie-Girl.”
I smiled and kept going. We’d both lied. We both made each other uncomfortable. But I loved the apartment and my loft with the view of the Hill. I loved how close it was to campus. I liked Dani and the camaraderie we’d built in just the few weeks I’d been here. I didn’t want to lose any of that. If Mac and I stayed out of each other’s hair, there wouldn’t be a problem. We were adults, not teenagers in the throes of first lust.
I got upstairs and texted Ava.
ME: You awake?
It took her a few minutes to respond.
AVA: Of course, at the bar. What’s up?
ME: My roommate’s brother showed up.
AVA: This sounds ominous. Is he a wackadoodle?
I chuckled.
ME: Depends. Do you think Mac is a wackadoodle?
AVA: Wait. Your roommate is Dani? As in, Mac’s sister, Dani? As in, you are now roommates with Mac?
ME: Bingo.
AVA: **laughing emoji**
ME: This is hardly funny.
AVA: OMG. I can’t breathe. This is hilarious.
ME: No. It’s not. How can it possibly be that, in a city this large, I’d find a room with Mac?
AVA: Look at Eli and me. We found each other in a city of eight million. Fate has a funny way of playing its cards.
ME: Not you too.
AVA: Not me too, what?
ME: Talking about fate. There isn’t such a thing.
AVA: Did Mac say that? That you were fated to find each other again? It doesn’t sound like Mac. It sounds more like Eli. Or Truck.
ME: Maybe they’ve rubbed off on him.
AVA: Maybe you’ve rubbed off on him. **eggplant emoji**
ME: Gross. No.
AVA: Says the woman who rated him a ten.
ME: This is just…weird.
AVA: Eli is going to smile so hard it will break his face when I tell him.