Page 15 of Green
Chloe smacked him across the bicep. “Do not call a woman that.”
“What? Fangirl? That’s what they are.”
I made another admirable attempt at conveying a lack of interest in my voice. “Is Carly someone new?”
“It’s always someone new.” Ethan waved his hand dismissively.
“Carly’s the tall blonde one from Germany?” I said. I had no idea if he was seeing a tall blonde woman from Germany, but I watched every episode ofVeronica Marsand considered myself a top-notch amateur snoop.
“Nah, that was last year. This is the genius engineer from Tokyo. I think.”
“Ahh,” I said, quickly and quietly dying inside. “The pink hair.” Another guess. God, I was good.
Ethan looked surprised. “I thought it was purple. He shows you pictures?”
Chloe elbowed him in the ribs. “We have no idea what’s really going on with Theo. We’re re-watching Season One ofTrue Detective.You want to come down and hang with us for a bit?”
“Damn I love that show. I do want to, but I’m pretty tired. I should probably go to bed.”
Chloe kept watching me, then looked to Theo’s bedroom door. “You want me to stay with you?”
Was she afraid I was going to hop into bed with Theo?As if.
“No, but thank you. I’m just gonna crash.”
She nodded. “Text if you need me.”
Ethan gently punched my shoulder, which is about as emotionally expressive as Ethan gets.
“Thanks, buddy,” I said.
When they were outside on the porch, Ethan’s hands were all over his wife, and I was sure they were going to go have intercourse while watching HBO. They were living the dream.
Meanwhile, I was living my tiny First World nightmare.
Theo started to walk out of his room, holding his phone and staring at it. Then he looked up and saw me standing alone, went back into his room, and returned without his phone. A nice gesture, but it wasn’t enough.
I started to head towards my room, without looking at him.
He cut me off at the pass.
“Hey. Grandma. That thing that almost happened there.”
“Don’t need to talk about it. Didn’t happen.” I tried to step around him but he blocked me with his aggravatingly tall and fit body.
“I know, we don’t have to talk about it again, but…Don’t beat yourself up about it, okay. You’re feeling vulnerable. You’re probably feeling insecure about your attractiveness right now, because of Andrew.”
Asshat.“Stop talking.” My whole body was heating up, and not in the good way.
“I’m just saying, it’s totally natural and normal for you to feel that way.”
“Uh huh. And you know this from your own experience as a woman who’s been in a long-term relationship that just ended because she found out her boyfriend had been cheating on her for years?”
“No.”
“Are you saying I was a shitty girlfriend?”
“No.”
