Page 49 of The One I Love
“Yeah. Tuesday again. But it’s an hour away.”
“So?”
She looks over at me as she puts on her clothes. “So that means you don’t have to go.”
I walk over to the bed and stand her up, needing her eye-to-eye for this one. “We’re a team now. We might be a secret one, but from here on out, it’s you and me. And that includes the kids. So if you tell me Mariah has a meet on Tuesday, I’ll pick you up from work and we’ll go over. Maybe then we can get there early and make out a little.”
This makes her laugh. “I never thought I’d hear you use the wordsmake out. Oliver’s rubbing off on you.”
“Don’t tell him that.”
We smile and share a kiss before the pounding on the door starts again.
“Go,” she says, patting me on the back. “I’ll hang here until he leaves.”
I lean in for one more kiss before I finish getting dressed and leave my bedroom. I make sure to close the door securely before letting Simon in. It’s just safer that way.
I open the door and can’t even get a word out before he barges in. “What took you so long? And don’t tell me you were still in bed, because we all damn well know you get up at a stupidly early hour.”
“I slept in today.”
“You don’t sleep in.” But just as the words leave Simon’s mouth, his eyes double in size and he looks down the hall to my bedroom. “Holy shit, is she here? Is Mary here?”
I wipe my mouth and shake my head as I figure out how to play this. “She is. Which is why you need to leave.”
“Like hell I’m leaving,” he says as he makes a show of sitting on my couch and getting comfortable.
“Excuse me?”
“Yup. I’m going to sit right here, maybe watch some TV, and wait for Mary to come out. You said I could meet her first, so here I am. Ready to meet.”
Fuck mesideways…
“Can I buy you breakfast instead?”
Simon shakes his head as he flips on the TV. “Absolutely not. You can’t bribe me with French toast when I’m about to meet the woman who made you wear dark wash jeans.”
“You can’t stay here all day.”
“You’re wrong. I can,” he says. “I don’t have to work today. My sisters are all staying out of my life for the time being, and I already went to the gym. Mary can’t stay in there forever, my man. You might as well accept your fate.”
Words like “shit” and “fuck” and “I fucking hate you” are mumbled as I walk toward my bedroom. Except when I open it up, Amelia is gone. I check the closet, my bathroom, and even under the bed, feeling like an idiot but unable to stop myself.
That’s when I feel a slight breeze, and it’s coming from an open window. When I walk over to it, I see Amelia waving at me as she walks toward her house, which is just around the block.
That’s my girl…
“Okay! Where’s she at?”
Simon nearly runs me over as he comes into my bedroom, only to find it empty.
“What the fuck, man? Where is she?”
I shrug. “You scared her away.”
“Bullshit,” he says. “You’re lying. You made her up to fuck with me. That’s not cool, man. I’m your second-best friend.”
I slap him on the back. “Come on. I’ll buy you breakfast. You know, to make up for this disappointing morning.”
