Page 125 of The Spider & the Storm

I shook the salacious thoughts from my head. “Nothing. Hey, uh, Blake mentioned that he and Cee were going out to dinner with their respective spouses and—”

“Are you asking if I want to go on a triple date with you?” She cut me off with a twinkle in her eye as she grabbed her coat from the hook beside the curtained door.

I crossed the room to take the heavy wool coat from her hands, holding it open so she could slide her arms through the sleeves. “I might be.”

“Are you okay with going?”

I smoothed the thick, soft fabric over her shoulders and held my hands there as I took a moment to appreciate the sentiment. There was no judgment in her tone. No hidden resentment that might implyshe'dlike to go, but wouldn't for my benefit. None of the usual attitudes or annoyances of previous relationships had seeped into anything she said so far, and as I'd previously taken note of, it wasnice.

It was nice to simplybewithout worrying about what I could be doing to unintentionally fuck it all up.

“I think so,” I replied honestly, lifting my eyes to the floor-length mirror, finding hers looking back at me.

Her smile broadened, black lips framing white teeth. She lifted her chin, tipping her head back against my chest.

“We look hot,” she commented, lifting a hand to lay it over mine, still resting on her shoulder.

I'd never once thought to compliment my own appearance, let alone go so far as to use the wordhot. The grin I gave back to her was one of amusement and incredulity as I shook my head, our gazes both affixed to the mirror.

“Hot?”

“Together, I mean,” she corrected, as if it made it better. “Like Morticia and Gomez.”

Her smile relaxed into something a little more serene as she settled back against my chest, her hands both now touching mine. The more I looked at our reflection, the more I reluctantly agreed. We complemented each other, or maybe it was thatshecomplementedme, making this exterior unable to shake off the gloom somewhat happier, content, and much, much less lonely.

“I think it's just you,” I teased. “You make me look good.”

“I”—she turned around to face me, swinging her arms up to loop lazily around my neck and tipping her head back—“don't think you give yourself enough credit.”

“And I”—my mouth dropped to brush against hers—“think you should text your boss and let him know we're coming before he gets pissed off.”

Stormy's eyes lit with amusement, brighter than the lights above our heads. “You're intimidated by Blake?”

She sounded doubtful, like the thought was absurd, and I scoffed.

“I'm pretty sure Blake could intimidate anyone,” I countered, laughing, just as incredulous.

“Notanyone,” she said a bit smugly as she loosened her hold on my neck to dig her phone from her pocket. Then, as she began to type, she added, “And if you thinkhe'sscary, just wait until you meet my brother-in-law.”

***

I'd spent much of my life being afraid of something or someone. While I appreciated that Stormy might not have found much to be scared of when it came to her friends, particularly Blake, I couldn't share the sentiment. In my experience, most people deserve to be feared—or at the very least approached with caution. Blake had made it very clear that he'd taken a big-brother position in Stormy's life, and although he'd also claimed to not be the fighting type, I knew better than anyone what big brothers were capable of.

So, I muddled through dinner with simple replies and careful glances around the table. I didn't speak unless spoken to, and my attention remained more on Stormy and my plate than anything else. But my apprehensive demeanor aside, her friends were nice, and they didn't once give me reason to be nervous. It was just who I was at my core, and at thirty-eight, I wasn't sure there was much I could do to change that.

“So, are you guys going down to your parents' place for Thanksgiving?” Cee asked Stormy, flipping her purple dreads over her shoulder before digging into a pile of nachos.

The mention of Connecticut set an eclipse of moths free in my stomach, and suddenly, I had even less interest in the burrito bowl I'd ordered.

Stormy nodded as she took a bite of her hard-shell taco, sending a flurry of crumbs to the table. “Yeah. Thanksgiving atmy parents' house, and then we're going to Charlie's friend's wedding the next day. I figured we'd just spend the weekend in Connecticut since we'll already be down there.” She turned to address me with a wide-eyed plea. “Right?”

A dizzying rush of panic urged me to tell her every horrible thing that had ever happened to me within the Connecticut state lines. Then, she'd know why I didn't ever want to go back, why I felt Icouldn'tgo back. She would understand, and she'd insist on her family coming up to Massachusetts instead. It wasn't a far drive. If we were capable of driving south, surely, they were capable of traveling north.

It was a nice thought, albeit a desperate one, but I wouldn't suggest it here in the presence of her friends.

So, I nodded and forced a smile. “Right. M-makes sense.”

“If we stay overnight at my parents' house on Thanksgiving and Friday, then maybe we can stay overnight at my sister's place on Saturday. She's in River Canyon, and I've been dying to see her house since Soldier redid the kitchen.”

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