Page 86 of Fun Together
“I’m . . . sorry?”
“I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen. In fact, I think it should happen again.”
“I’ve been thinking about it, too,” I admit.
His head snaps up and he looks at me. “You have?” There’s a hopeful tilt in his voice.
“All morning,” I confess. “I still feel a little mortified about it, but it was also . . . good.”Great job, Faye, really nailed it with that one. I feel a nervous awareness of him. It’s not a bad feeling, just the confirmation that he’s no longer the Eli I’ve known, but something more complex.
“I want to help you with that too,” he breathes out in a rush.
“Help with what?”
“The sex stuff.”
“I don’t know. . .” Why am in so much denial over this? Rett says to do it. Eli is making it clear as fucking day he wants to do it. But I can’t seem to stop tossing up barriers. “We got carried away before, right? I don’t know if it’s a good idea for us to take it that far.”
“I’m helping you with everything else on your list. I want to help you with that.”
“Why?”
“Because we have fun together.” He steps closer, and he doesn’t touch me, but the way he’s looking at me feels like he is. “Don’t we?”
I try not to smile. And fail.
“Just imagine how much more fun we could have together.”
Oh, I have imagined it. All night. All weekend. I’m imagining it right now. “Can I think about it?” As if I haven’t done enough of that already.
“Of course,” he says. “Are we still on for your practice interview tomorrow night?”
“Yeah, do you want to come over after work?”
“Sounds good.” He holds the stairwell door open for me, and when I brush past him, he leans over. “See you then.”
27
Faye
“Thanks for doingthis over the phone,” Eli says. “I totally forgot I told my parents I would dog-sit for them this week while they’re on their actual anniversary celebration trip.”
Our practice interview is now a practice phone interview. I’m a little disappointed that we aren’t meeting in person, but also glad we aren’t in the same room right now. I’m half afraid of what I might do. And half afraid of what I won’t.
“No worries. Where are they celebrating?”
“Spending the week in Hilton Head.”
I decide to take a bath while talking to him, to hopefully loosen up and relax. “So, the anniversary party is not their real way of celebrating?” I take a fresh towel out of my bathroom closet and hang it on the hooks next to my shower.
“That’s become more of an Evie project. She’s going through a breakup, and planning a party is cathartic for her.”
I understand, all too well, the post-breakup distraction phase. “That’s tough. I hope she’s okay.”
I turn on the water and make sure the temperature is almost scalding before I get in.
“Are you washing the dishes?” he asks.
“No, I’m about to take a bath.” I put my phone on speakerphone and set it down on the edge of the tub, ignoring what a bad idea that is. I don’t have anywhere else to put it, though. I should buy one of those bath tray things.
