Page 30 of Best Served Hot
They smiled at each other for a moment. It felt nice. Nicole wondered if she should hug Alex. No, too weird. Though she kind of wanted to.
Twenty
Nicole got up to leave and smiled at her. Alex smiled back. There was an awkward little pause. In that pause, Alex felt a bit funny in the tummy. She was probably just stressed. It always went straight to her stomach.
‘Man, it’s been a long day,’ Alex said, ignoring her rumblings.
‘That it has. We both need some sleep.’ Nicole looked at the pillow. ‘You’ve still got one left, right?’
‘Don’t worry about the pillow,’ Alex assured her, heading into the living room, Nicole following. ‘I was going to say get a good night’s sleep. But…’
Nicole chuckled bitterly. ‘That’s right. I’m sleeping next to that bastard.’ She looked at the couch and bit her lip. ‘Actually…’
Alex looked at the couch, but she didn’t get it. ‘What?’
Nicole rolled her eyes at herself. ‘Sorry, that’s too much to ask.’
Alex knew she was being dense, but she couldn’t seem to take whatever hint was being thrown. ‘What is?’
‘I was just, just wondering if I could sleep on your couch tonight. But I think that’s a hefty ask—’
‘Ofcourseyou can,’ Alex said, glad she’d asked. She didn’t want Nicole to go back to that house if she didn’t have to. She was happy to have her here.
‘Oh,’ Nicole replied, surprised. ‘Really?’
‘You’re welcome,’ Alex told her firmly. ‘But won’t Ethan wonder why you’re not at home?’
‘I’ll just tell him I fell asleep working in the office if he doesn’t beat me to that excuse first. Wouldn’t be the first time.’
‘You don’t think he’ll see through that?’
‘I don’t think he’ll care enough to see through it,’ Nicole said reasonably.
Alex wanted to say something comforting about that, but what was there to say? It was true. Ethan didn’t care about anyone but himself.
Alex decided that if she couldn’t attend to Nicole’s emotional needs, she could at least help with the physical ones. So to speak. ‘Well, my sofa is a squidgy uncomfortable mess, just so you know.’
‘It doesn’t contain any cheating husbands, though,’ Nicole said brightly. ‘So it looks like the bloody Ritz to me right now.’
‘How is it being around him?’ Alex asked tentatively.
‘Almost unbearable.’
‘How the hell are you doing it?’
Nicole smiled. ‘I pretend I’m in a TV show, and I’m playing a character who doesn’t despise their husband. In real life, I might hate my co-star’s guts, but I’ve got a job to do, and I’m gonna be a professional about it.’
Alex took a moment to let that percolate. ‘So you’re just… dissociating? she asked, worried.
Nicole put her thumb and forefinger an inch apart. ‘Just a smidge.’
Alex’s eyes widened. ‘I don’t like the sound of that.’
‘It’s temporary. Just a few weeks. Then I can go back to being a complete person,’ Nicole assured her casually. ‘Now, do you have a spare blanket?’
Alex found that to be a slightly worrisome statement. She went to get a throw blanket from the cupboard, hoping Nicole wasn’t hurting herself as much as Ethan had in all this. She’d hate to see that. She vowed to keep an eye on her.
Alex gave Nicole the throw. ‘Do you need, like, stuff?’
