KDBookOnline
Share Us
“Oh my god.” Olive smacked his shoulder. “What were you wearing?”
“I was wearing a man’s sleeping attire, and he was wearing jeans.”
“Is ‘a man’s sleeping attire’ a euphemism for naked? Because then that really is the beginning of a porno.” Olive’s eyebrows almost reached her hairline.
“I had underwear on, you perverts.” Derek rubbed that sore spot on his jaw that meant he had been grinding his teeth last night. He could not afford to break another molar. Although… Dylan’s bed was surprisingly comfortable. Maybe he could get a mattress like it.
“And he was… just wearing jeans? No shirt…”
Derek really did avoid lying if he could help it, but his reluctance to answer was an answer in and of itself. For the next several minutes, Joni and Olive were laughing so hard he would probably have to put oxygen on them soon. Not that he would. They deserved what they got. Suffocate away.
“So is there only one bed in Dylan’s apart—”
“Gah…” Derek waved his hand in a can we concentrate on the important things gesture. “That dude could have landed on Gus.”
Olive’s face sobered a little. “But he didn’t. Gus is fine. Though, if it’s a problem he’s there with the repairs, I’m sure Stella’s dad or my sister would—”
“Gus is fine. With me.” Having Gus around reminded him of some of the happiest moments in his life. The evenings spent with Olive and Jake at Jake’s house up North, having bonfires and cookouts and watching movies on his projector screen while newly adopted Gus gamboled along and snuggled with them under that big flannel blanket. He wished he had that blanket.
Joni grabbed some gauze from a packet beside her and wiped tears from her eyes. “Alright, now yes, back to the scenario at hand.”
“It was not a scenario. It was just a scatterbrained neighbor flooding his kitchen and falling through a hole in the ceiling onto my bed.”
“Oh my god. He landed on your bed? A half-naked man fell through the ceiling and landed on your bed while water deluged down all around you? Ahh…” Olive’s eyes went wide. “Did you say hallelu—”
“No.” He pointed at her mouth as if hexing her into silence. “If you were going to make the ‘It’s Raining Men’ joke, Dylan already made it. It wasn’t funny then, and it’s certainly not now.”
Undeterred, Olive snickered. “Sounds like a kindred spirit for me.” She wrapped her arms around Derek’s shoulders. “I was so worried about leaving you for a few months, but now I feel much better. If he cooks for you, you’ll have to marry him.”
“I would rather marry literally anyone.” And by anyone, he meant no one. That was never going to be his future. Not with Jake gone. Olive squeezed his neck harder until Joni was paged overhead and a call bell rang. His two evil friends scurried off in opposite directions. He swirled the dregs of his coffee.
Olive smiled more now than she’d ever smiled since Jake’s accident. She was still savagely sarcastic and cynical, but those cracks of deep unhappiness beneath the surface were gone. She deserved that. She deserved everything after what she’d gone through during Jake’s coma. Olive deserved to be so stupid happy.
It made those two lies almost worth it.
If she ever found out about what had happened between Derek and Jake, she would lose it. Not just because she’d be pissed about the lying. She would hate that she wasn’t there for Derek when his heart was broken too. She would be furious at herself for not seeing what was going on. He didn’t want her to see him that way. It wasn’t like there was ever a good time to drop it into conversation: “Hey, so NBD, but I got drunk and slept with your brother, lied to you about it, and then we hooked up again two weeks before he went into an irreversible coma, and by the way I’ve been in love with him for twenty years.”
Hell to the no.
Lately, Olive had subtly (for Olive) hinted that Derek should consider deleting a few apps or thinking about dates serving purposes beyond basic needs. But Derek was fine with his personal life. Just because Olive had a happily ever after didn’t mean that was possible for him. The small glimpses he’d gotten of happily ever after had wrecked him… twice.
Casual was his only option. It was the safe option.
Something about the way Dylan Gallagher had looked at Derek this morning had made Derek think that casual was not that guy’s thing.
Derek’s phone vibrated. He hoped it would be a text from his mom because, after a weirdly short The bats are gone. Everything’s fine text from her this morning, she hadn’t replied to any of Derek’s other questions about how the rest of the night had gone. But the text was not from his mother. He scanned the screen and swore.
Parakeet Karen.
Chapter 6
CAROL
I noticed Mr. Gallagher’s nephew going in and out of your unit several times carrying what looked like tools.
CAROL
Now, while the HOA cannot regulate how each individual owner chooses to do renovation work, it is strongly encouraged that you vet large-scale repair work with the board given the potential for complications that could potentially impact multiple owners, say with plumbing or electrical. If you choose not to do this and there is a problem, you face fines for that choice.