Page 61 of The Snowball Effect

Emma was staring in confusion at Regan because she didn’t recall telling Regan much about her job. Sure, she’d mentioned work here and there and had definitely brought up Brynn’s name in passing, but it wasn’t like she’d regaled Regan with tales about her. Then again, she’d found that she’d been continuously surprised by how observant Regan truly was.

She turned her attention back to Brynn, absolutely not trusting the mischievous look in her eyes. “Ah…roommatedrama has all been worked out, then?”

“Yes,” Regan answered, leaning into Emma’s side. Even though it was over eighty degrees, Regan seemed to take no issue standing right against Emma’s body heat.

“We’re doing better than ever,” Regan informed Brynn, bringing Emma back to reality.

The reality of Brynn staring between the two of them – the smug expression on her face telling Emma that she continued not to believe they were literally just roommates.

The sincerity with which Regan said those words – that they were doingbetter than ever– didn’t help the case. Nor did their proximity to each other, especially given Regan’s attire.

Wearing denim cutoffs that just barely covered the bottom curve of her butt and a red crop top, Regan’s outfitwasappropriate for the weather.

It also appropriately showed off the fact that Regan was undeniably attractive.

It was less appropriate for the way Regan miscalculated physical boundaries. Emma had started to get used to it in the privacy of their apartment in the last two weeks – at times, to even find some strange enjoyment from it. But with Brynn staring at them like this? Andin public?

Emma deliberately side-stepped, putting a couple of inches between them as she slid her sunglasses pointedly back up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Can’t wait,” Brynn sing-songed back. “Nice to meet you, Regan.”

“You, too!” Regan called after her, immediately turning her attention to Emma and staring up at her expectantly.

Emma matched her stare. “I’m still waiting for the answer?”

“What answer?”

“About what you’re doing here?” She repeated her question from minutes ago, exasperated.

Thiswas the sort of thing that may have annoyed her about Regan before. That she would do something like randomly show up at Emma’s office unprompted, acting obtuse and dodgy about the reason why.

But it was far more difficult to get annoyed when Regan did things like leave the dishes in the sink after she’d been up baking last Thursday night, when she’d left Emma a homemade chocolate croissant for breakfast and a little note promising to clean everything up before Emma returned from work. And, true to the note, Emma had returned to a spotless home that evening.

The note also had a little elephant doodled on it – Regan had learned that was Emma’s favorite animal, via their questionnaire, whereas Emma had learned that Regan’s was ashark. So, so strange – which Emma had found disarmingly sweet. For some reason, she’d kept that little note. Maybe it was because Emma couldn’t remember the last time someone had some something like that, something so simple as a doodle on a note, but also so… thoughtful and personal.

They’d even found a bathroom rhythm that was surprisingly seamless. Even when they’d both had to get ready in the morning, Emma found that communicating very simply and concisely with Regan really did go a long way.

Sure, Regan still did silly little teasing things – like when Emma went to grab her toothbrush from the holder and found that it was missing, as Regan gave her big, too-innocent doe eyes… but before Emma could get truly riled up, Regan offered her toothbrush that she’d held in her free hand, already prepared with their toothpaste. “I knew you’d be coming in sooner rather than later,” Regan had easily commented around her own toothbrush in her mouth. She’d proceeded to list off the precise order in which Emma got ready every morning.

“Ahh, right! I realized that my shift ended, like, a half hour before you said you were likely going to be coming home tonight. And then I thought, well, thirty minutes is basically the amount of time it would probably take to meet you here. Obviously,” she tacked on, gesturing around them as if to prove her point.

“Obviously,” Emma indulged.

“So, I thought – well, it would be kind of fun to see where you work! Plus, since we’re both out at the same time and we’re down the street from one of my favorite diners, I figured we could grab dinner together?” There was a clear, hopeful edge in her voice, reflected in how Regan was biting her lip as she looked up at her, awaiting her response.

It seemed that the literal seconds it took Emma to process put Regan on-edge, as she rambled on, “I know we haven’t, you know, debuted our friendship anywhere beyond the apartment yet. And our home hangouts have been great, don’t get me wrong,” she rushed to say. “But… meeting you out and about because we have similar schedules is what friends would do.”

“Not in my experience,” Emma stated, but she wasn’t trying to be difficult.

Honestly, she had always held her friends an arm’s length away. Even Sutton, to a degree.

But, as she eyed Regan, she was forced to admit that keeping Regan at a distance wasn’t really a possibility. Regan was essentially a puppy; Emma had been slow to learn that. Now that shehad, though, it was almost impossible for her to do anything to make Regan give her those big, sad eyes.

And, she found that as she stared at Regan’s absurdly optimistic expression, she really had no desire to say no, anyway. Regan was right: their home hangouts had been very enjoyable. It… it was nice to come home to someone who wanted to talk to Emma about her day and in turn, share their stories. They’d started to settle into a rhythm now, and Emma liked a settled rhythm.

“All right,” she acquiesced. “Where’s the diner?”

It reallywasonly a few blocks away, which Emma was grateful for as they stepped inside the blissful air conditioning. The slightly dingy sign outside proclaimed a 24-hour breakfast, which Regan had assured her was the best she’d ever had.

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