Page 136 of As They Are
“How did you—why?”
I shrugged as I took it from him and ate one of the smaller pieces. “This iswaybetter.”
“He feels very strongly about his cheese,” Colleen said. “He likes you. He even gave it back!”
“I’m debating that choice,” he muttered.
“I’m very sorry that I’m not educated on string cheese. Does that help?”
“Don’t let it happen again.”
“You two are something else! On the show, they made it seem like a fairy-tale romance, but almosttoofairy tale. You better watch out for that Jude guy.”
“Trust me, I’m aware.” Henry’s voice was dry.
“That’snothappening,” I assured her. “They’re spinning it in a way I didn’t agree to.”
“Show business,” she muttered with a roll of her eyes. “There’s a reason I hate reality TV.”
“Didn’t you watchRu Paul’s Drag Race?” Henry asked.
“That’s not reality TV. That’sart.”
I laughed and ate another part of my string cheese before Colleen led us back to the living room. She pulled out one of the dining room chairs and sat in it, leaving the tiny love seat to the both of us. Since it was so much older, it meant we were practically sitting on top of one another.
Not that I was going to complain. I tucked in my legs and leaned into it, half of my body pressed into Henry. He gave me a glance before wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
My heart skipped a beat.
“Now you two need to tell me every detail of how this happened.” She leaned forward. “Start from the beginning.”
“Well,” I began, “it all started when Henry sent me on a wild-goose chase for irises.”
“Him and those flowers. He loves them!”
“Of course he does,” I said without missing a beat. This was the one thing I did know. “And he was trying to keep me busy, but then we broke into a library, and it all went downhill from there ...”
“These are lifesavers,” Henry said that evening when he took the earplugs out. We were in the tiny guest room, which used to be his old bedroom. She’d gone to bed at nine and left us with a pile of pillows and blankets to use for the night. “I mean, she’s still loud, but it’s tolerable.”
“The reviews on those are great. Apparently, people use them for concerts too.”
“Thank you,” he said. “You were right about them.”
“And right about coming?”
“I’m not so sure about that. Did youhaveto mention us breaking into the library?”
“Her lecture was hilarious.”
“Foryou,”he said, crossing his arms.
“You were just doing your doctorly duty,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “Nothing to it.”
“Still. That and the string cheese has you on thin ice.”
“I shared my chicken tenders with you, though.”
Henry and I had gone out with Colleen. He’d ordered grilled chicken and vegetables, but I saw him eyeing my fried version. Dinner had been fun up until Henry and I once again debated over who would pay.
