My ears perk up as I try to make sense of that comment. She’s oblivious I’ve heard her because her eyes are fixed firmly on something outside the window.
“What brought you here, so far away from home? School? Work?”
Her attention shifts to me and she hesitates, her lower lip curling in as white teeth bite down on supple flesh. Christ, she needs to stop doing that. My semi-boner threatens to rise when her lashes lift to hold my gaze.
“I was living here with my husband.”
My boner dies a swift death and my expression is frozen. Did I say I liked Alia surprising me? I’m a fool.
“Ex-husband,” she corrects. “I’m newly divorced.” Instantly, the sun is shining again. I exhale, my body sagging from that half second of stress.
“I’m—”What should I say?Thank you?“Sorry.”
Her mouth tips up on one end at my woefully terrible attempt to console her.
“You’re quite convincing,” she teases and I grin in response.
“Do you come to this café often? I’ve never seen you here before.”
“I work part-time at the pet shelter nearby, so I drop by for lunch often. We must’ve missed each other.”
“Possibly.” I sip my smoothie and she does the same. “How was work?”
“They didn’t need me. And, while my cousin’s apartment is nice, I was getting tired of staring at the walls. Figured I’d stick around here for a bit longer.”
“You live with Rohan? Or Ish?”
“Irsia. How do you know her?”
“We’ve met during team events with family.”
She inhales sharply, her eyes sliding over my shoulder before slipping back to me.
“Wh—”
“Nothing. Sorry. I thought I saw something.”
Despite her valiant efforts not to, her gaze flickers once more. As I turn, I hear her protest.
“Callum? There’s nothing there. You don’t have to—”
I scan the surroundings, finally spotting a group of teen girls running on the green space across the street. One of them lets a small brown ball fly into the air toward another holding a bat. I recognize the sport even if I don’t know much about it.
“Is this why you’re here?” I ask, turning back to an oddly guilty-looking woman. “To watch them play cricket?”
She looks like the idea of admitting this is as appealing as participating in the Polar Plunge. I don’t relent. “Tots?”
“Yes,” she replies defensively. “There’s a cricket club that plays here and I like to watch. Sometimes.”
“Don’t you play, too?”
“Used to.”
“You could always ask if they need another member.”
The ghost of an inexplicable sadness in her eyes leaves me wondering what I said to cause it. She graces me with a tiny smile that curls around my heart and squeezes hard.
“Maybe some other day. I should get going. It was nice to see you again, Callum.”