That makes all of them pause for half a second.
Different how, I want to ask.
But I don’t.
Because I don’t want to hear the answer.
Emma studies me more closely now, her expression softening just slightly, like she’s recognised something she was hoping to see.
“She makes you happy,” she says.
It isn’t phrased like a challenge.
It’s a statement of fact.
“Yes,” I say. The word comes easier this time. These are my best friends. If I can’t tell them, who can I tell?
Across the table, Rob leans back in his chair and folds his arms.
“Well,” he says, “this is excellent news for me.”
Nick looks at him. “How?”
Rob grins. “It restores balance. I was carrying the entire romantic credibility of this group on my own.”
Tommy snorts into his pint. “You’ve been on three dates this week.”
“Four,” Rob corrects.
Emma raises an eyebrow. “And how many second dates?”
Rob pauses. “That’s not the point.”
Chris laughs quietly into his drink.
Nick points at Rob. “Serial dating is not the same as a relationship.”
Rob looks offended. “It absolutely contributes to the ecosystem.”
Emma shakes her head, smiling now despite herself. “You’re exhausting.”
Alex finally speaks. “He’s also deflecting,” he says mildly.
Rob ignores him.
“So,” he says, turning back to me, “how serious is it?”
The question lands differently.
I think about Christina upstairs, about the way her hand had fit into mine like it belonged there, about the look on her face when I told her I was falling for her.
“Serious,” I say.
The word settles over the table.
No one laughs.
Nick studies me for a moment longer than usual.