Page 87 of The Path to Loving Him
I can see her lips tilt up from the corner of my eye, and I beg myself not to get lost in that smile.
“For the record,” she says. “I didn’t follow you here.”
“Didn’t think you did,” I reply.
“Okay, because I feel like that’s something you’d think.”
“Why do you say that?” I ask, now turning toward her. She does the same.
“After what happened with Christian, I don’t know, just setting the record straight.”
“No need to. Everything’s fine.”
“Is it, though?” she asks. “This feels more awkward than ever.”
“Yeah, well, it’ll be uncomfortable for a while.” I let out a deep breath and look her in her beautiful, different colored eyes. “I want you to know that . . .” I look away for a second to gather myself because her gaze is too intense. “I’m sorry about, you know, everything, and I promise I’ll be better. I’ve acted like a buffoon, and if I look back at all our interactions, I’m embarrassed I treated you the way I did. It’s not your fault you were hired. If I should be mad at anyone, it should be David.”
“Wow, uh, thanks. Wasn’t expecting that, but I’m sorry too,” she says, seeming very surprised that we’re having this heart-to-heart in the middle of The Almond Store. “I should have told you who I was and that I got the job right away. That was shitty of me. I was just . . . I don’t know, nervous. You were so angry when you found out I was your tenant that I couldn’t imagine how you’d react when you found out I was coaching too.”
I slowly nod and toe the floor. “Yeah, because I didn’t think I’d see you again. I passed off that night we had as an incredible one-night stand that would live with me for a while. Never did I think that I’d have the opportunity to well . . . you know.”
She agrees. “Yeah, I know.”
“But I promise I’ll do better. I just . . . I need to get over this crazy lust I have for you.”
Her eyes meet mine. “I know what you mean. That’s why I suggested we do the friend thing.”
“I mean, it’s something we can try. It’s not like anything else has worked.”
“It really hasn’t,” she says.
“Okay, so then, we’re working on being friends?”
“I guess so,” she replies.
“And to be clear, friends without benefits.”
“There can’t be any benefits whatsoever. Like . . . none.”
“Okay.” She tugs on the strap of her purse. “And friends can’t get mad when other friends talk to other people in the teachers’ lounge.”
“Only if friends don’t openly flirt with other people in the teachers’ lounge in front of friends.”
“I wasn’t openly flirting.”
“Call it what you want, there was chemistry, and I don’t need to fucking see it.”
Her cheeks blush as she nods in agreement. “Fair. Also, I think friends need to make sure that shirts are on at all times when friends have to use the shower.”
“Are friends attracted to friends with shirts off?”
“If we need to keep this as strictly no benefits, then I think we need to make sure shirts . . . and pants, for that matter, are on at all times.”
“That counts for both of us.” I point at her. “And no more of those . . . robes. For the love of God, put pajamas on.”
She chuckles. “I can do that.”
“Anything else?” I ask.
