Page 83 of Under My Skin
I’m not expecting to see Lucy’s adorable button nose and big blue eyes when the door opens, and the sight of her nearly knocks the wind from my lungs. I want to know what she’s thinking—how she’s feeling about all of this. I want to know if she regrets it.
“Oh.” Her eyes widen. I guess we’re equally surprised. “Hey,” she says, her cheeks flushing.
I wish this weren’t so awkward. “Hey.”
“Let me talk to him,” Simon’s voice comes from somewhere behind her, and she looks over her shoulder at the sound. She glances back at me before stepping aside, but she doesn’t argue with him.
Simon steps outside and shuts the door behind him. He might not look as pissed as he was last night, but he definitelydoesn’t look happy to see me. Sitting on one of the concrete steps leading to the front door, he nods for me to take a seat next to him.
I take a deep breath before I sit down. For a moment, we both just sit, probably equally unsure of what to say. My knee bounces after the first few seconds, and when I can’t take the silence, I blurt, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what was going on. I should have. It was unexpected, and I was honestly trying to fight it until it was too late. I don’t know what I was thinking?—”
Simon holds up a hand. “Are you serious about her?”
I scratch the side of my head and glance back toward the house where Lucy sits somewhere inside. “I’d like to be.”
He stares straight ahead and nods. There’s another beat of silence, and I open my mouth to start rambling again, but he cuts me off.
“Just don’t hurt her.” He gives me a sideways glance. “And don’t let anything get weird if this goes south.”
My eyebrows pull together. “You don’t want me to stay away from her?”
Simon stares forward again, seeming to mull over my question. “I don’t want to be the reason anyone can’t be with who they want—can’t be happy.” He looks over at me. “Especially you or Lucy.”
I swallow and nod. “Okay.” Looking back at the house again, like I might see Lucy through the walls, I say, “I don’t know what she wants.”
He laughs. “Yeah. Well, I can’t help you there. But if she wants to be with your dumb ass for some reason, I won’t stand in the way.”
My mouth quirks into a smile. “Thanks.”
Blowing out a breath, Simon shakes his head. “All right. I have to get back to work. Today has been fucking weird. I just had to tell my dad he could never do anything to make me stop loving him.” Getting to his feet, he holds a fist out for me.
Bumping his fist with my own, I say, “Want to talk about it?”
He shakes his head. “Later.We’re good?”
I nod. “We’re good.”
Then he walks down the driveway to where his bike sits next to mine. He mounts the bike and starts the engine before rolling it back and turning it around. A few seconds after he revs the engine and pulls out of sight, Lucy steps outside, her eyes scanning the street. “He left?”
“Had to get back to work.” I gesture to the space next to me where Simon was just sitting. “Want to sit?”
She eyes me warily. “Sure . . .” She collapses onto the concrete step and blows out a breath. “How is it still morning?”
“I saw your text. You’re going back to Denver?”
“Yeah.” She lets out a humorless laugh. “My roommate may have started a minor house fire.”
“Shit. Is she okay?”
Lucy scoffs. “She’s fine. My security deposit and whatever else they’re bound to take from me? Not so much.”
I nod, and silence falls between us until Lucy asks, “Did you and Simon work everything out?”
I scratch the side of my jaw. “Yeah, I think we did.”
She pulls the sleeves of her sweater down so the hem covers most of her palms. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t think he’d react that way.”
“He’s okay now.”
