Page 18 of Fall Twice

God, everything he says is like he’s reading my mind.

“You had a good support network, right?”

He nods yes.

“You? Maryland wasn’t exactly near your family.”

I set the glass on the coffee table. “I made it work. You make friends, and truthfully, when I had Oscar then it made it easier to connect with people. But even so, I feel like this move is different because it’s on my terms.”

“That’s good to hear, Lena.” He kicks his feet up onto the coffee table.

For the next hour, we talk about his travels and the students he’s had. There’s a list of ones he liked and the others he hated. I tell him about my knitting and the fact that I’m not very good at it. Our conversation flows and time gets lost.

“Another round?” Reid moves to stand up, but I stop him by grabbing his arm to pull him back.

“Not a chance. Age makes my hangover ten times worse, and I would like to be clear-minded tomorrow, and tonight. In fact, I may already book a cab back.” But I’m too cozy here.

Somewhere between his story of diving down in the Florida Keys and my desire to visit Santa Fe, I threw off my shoes and made myself comfortable on the couch.

“I would say you can crash in the spare room, but it’s my office with a futon that is currently home to boxes of books that I need to donate.”

Perfect. A sign from the universe that I should not stay here any longer.

I swing my feet off the sofa, but as I stand, he repeats my own move by taking hold of my arm and pulling me back onto the couch, causing me to land closer to him, in fact, leaning against him.

Our bodies touching is enough for all my senses to grow extra sensitive. I feel the quickening of the blood flowing to my chest.

His smell is intoxicating me; it’s not even cologne, it’s a simple shampoo that drives most of the female population crazy.

Create space. Yep. Do that.

But he throws his arm on the back of the couch, and I feel like he is subconsciously holding me close.

I peer up at him, and I see that he’s looking back at me.

“Is Johnny a myth?” I ask because I wonder if this is all a ploy.

He chuckles and it has a dangerous edge to it. “He isn’t, I swear.”

“What are we doing?” My voice is breathy, and it nearly sounds like a plea.

Reid’s finger gently touches my cheek and then he slides it up into my hair. “Nothing.”

“Good. Because I’m smarter now.”

The corner of his mouth hitches up due to my comment. “We both are.”

“Perfect. Conversations about places to visit and favors of watering plants are our future,” I declare.

“Absolutely.” He leans in ever so slightly then retreats, as if he’s debating.

I bite my bottom lip, close my eyes, and the feeling of whiskey or Reid sends me into a frenzy of floating that I was once addicted to.

Curiosity plagues me, but I don’t move.

Instead, he moves closer, and I know what he will do.

But in this chapter of our life, I refuse to make the initiation, because it’s still clear in my head the time that I was with Reid, and we played a human game of chess where I never knew which pieces he held.

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