Page 93 of Maid For Each Other

“The snack bar will be fully staffed with inept chefs who know nothing about actual culinary science but are experts when it comes to a deep fryer,” he said, dropping his keys onto the mini bar.

“Well, thank God,” I said, thrilled that we were going to be bowling and eating normal food. “Do you care if I take a shower before we go?”

Working at Benny’s always made me feel grungy.

“Yeah, no, for sure you should,” he said, glancing at his watch. “I actually need to go call my mom and make sure everything is set, so I’ll do that while I grab my charger out of the car and you can hop in the shower. Let me get that sweatshirt for you.”

He unzipped his fancy leather travel bag andof coursehisclothes were perfectly folded inside. He’d probably die if he saw the mess that was inside my bag, but hopefully I could spare his genteel sensibilities by keeping it out of sight.

He pulled out a Harvard sweatshirt that was beyond perfect because it was faded and worn, like he’d been wearing and washing it on repeat since the day he showed up to freshman orientation, and I wanted to keep it forever.

Sleep in it every night.

Maybe that’s what I’d ask for as payment for this weekend—the Harvard sweatshirt.

“Did you know the only reason Rory never went to Harvard after years of that being her main goal was because Harvard wouldn’t let the TV show film there?”

“What? Who’s Rory?” he asked.

“Rory Gilmore fromGilmore Girls.”

“Oh.” He looked at me likeIwas the crazy one for bringing upGilmore Girlswhen he really needed to know that it was always right to bring upGilmore Girls. “I never actually saw a single episode of that show.”

“Well, you’re lucky I’m not your girlfriend in real life, because I would totally make you binge-watch it with me. We’d spend an entire weekend in Stars Hollow, and you would thank me for it by Sunday evening.”

His expression changed, and he looked serious and thoughtful as he peered at me.

“Gilmore Girls, huh?” he said.

I nodded and tucked my hair behind my ears, hyperaware of some sort of undercurrent blazing between us. Another unexplained moment of zipping electricity.

He cleared his throat. “Okay, go shower,” he said. “I’m going downstairs, and then I’m also going to run over to the gas station across the street and get a candy bar. Do you want anything?”

I remembered his mom’s story at the cocktail party about Dex and sweets; how did that already seem like so long ago?

“I would love a Milky Way,” I said, wondering how long I had before everything changed.

“You got it,” he said, grabbing his keys and heading for the door. “I’ll be right back.”

32

Scorpions and Sex

Declan

I stepped onto the elevator and hit the button for the twelfth floor, a candy bar in each hand, knowing I’d become a ridiculous cartoon version of myself.Go on a chocolate run because I’m catching feelings—yes, that was what a reasonable, grown-ass man did.

But somehow, her mention of spending a weekend binge-watching some random show I had no interest in watching nearly dropped me. Out of nowhere, I desperately wanted it.

We’d done a lot together in such a short time, parties and dinners and events—all in front of hundreds of people—but I was hungry for the Abi at home. I wanted to see her curled up with a blanket because I knew she was always cold, and I wanted her to fall asleep on me again like she had in New York.

I’d thrown out the “gas station run” only because I knew a two-minute phone call downstairs wasn’t going to be enough time away from her to get my head straight.

Abi was here, this weekend, as a favor to me. I knew there were feelings involved, but I also knew that when you added so much falsehood to a situation, it was nearly impossible to disseminate truth from fiction. I felt like I knew her, but was that just the her she’d been giving to me through the course of our arrangement?

I wanted to unravel it all and figure it out, damn it.

I wanted to dig in and determine what was real and what wasn’t, who she really was and who she was pretending to be.Who she wanted to be.I wanted to pull apart every fucking thing and get lost in the truth.

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