“Ex-wife,” he corrected, but smiled. “But yes, all of that.”
“It is a lot,” I said, leaning back against the counter. I looked him over. “You smell like your body wash. You showered in your cabin?”
He watched me for a moment and sighed. “After she left, yes.”
“She, uh…say anything?”
“No. We said what needed to be said last night, and she left saying nothing else,” he said with a snort. “And she even stripped the bed for me, how nice of her. Probably the nicest thing she’s done for me in ages.”
I squinted at him. “It’s kind of sad that that’s the nicest thing she’s done in a long time.”
“I know,” he said with a sigh, and then looked at me. “Did you really think I slept with her last night?”
When he said it like that, I felt like an idiot. “Your wife?—”
“Ex-wife,” he growled. “Jesus, fuck. You were the one who told me to skip the between steps and call her that, so you do it too.”
“Barely partway into this conversation and you’re already mad at me,” I said, but there was a flicker of warmth in my chest at his insistence. “But yeah, your ex-wife showed up on your birthday, a surprise visit even though I guess it wasn’t supposed to be.”
“It wasn’t,” he muttered, rubbing his forehead. “I checked. She did tell me…three times. Even texted me, but you know, our phones were here.”
“Ugh, I love technology, but sometimes I miss the days when you could just…not have a goddamn phone in your pocket and the expectations of being constantly available didn’t exist,” I said with a shake of my head.
“Same,” he grunted.
“It was obvious what she wanted,” I finished with a halfhearted shrug.
He frowned, then blinked. “Oh. That’s what she…Jesus, she’s not kidding. I am dense.”
“The way you guys were talking, I’m surprised that’s the worst she said about you,” I muttered.
“No, not Mona. The less I say about that conversation, the better,” he said with a sigh. “I meant Cait. She…well, we didn’t really talk. She talked to me, and then we sat there in silence.”
“One of your favorite ways to spend time with someone,” I chuckled.
“Used to be it was only Cait I could really enjoy that with,” he said thoughtfully. “I never had it with anyone else, not…long term. I didn’t realize it was possible, at least with the people around me. Then it happened with Cait and we just got…good at it with each other. She mostly reads when it happens, but silence is silence.”
“What’s mostly silence with a few pages flipping between friends?” I asked.
He nodded, then stepped forward, setting his cup aside, and I watched as he reached for me. Blinking, I held out my hand and let him take it. “And then…it started with you. I didn’t even think about it much when it happened, not the first couple of times. At some point, I realized I found I could do it with you.”
“Do it, huh?” I asked and then winced when he shot me a look. “Sorry, starting to think that’s a defense mechanism.”
“No worse than me taking shit too seriously,” he said with a shake of his head. “I think the sex is why I missed it. I was so damn caught up in feeling fuzzy, happy, and content that I never noticed we were just…existing in the quiet together. And get that look off your face. I’m not complaining about the sex.”
“That’s good,” I said with a snort. “I’d be worried if you were.”
“You and me both,” he said, giving my hand a squeeze. “My point is you’ve been great. Amazing, actually. I don’t have anyreason to complain. I…well, I guess I always have a reason to complain.”
“I didn’t think this was the moment to say it,” I said and backed up when he advanced toward me, but let my back hit the counter and peer up at him. “You realize that when you try to act all intimidating, it’s a turn-on for me?”
“I figured, good thing I wasn’t trying to intimidate you,” he said softly. “You’ve been the best thing to happen to me in a long time, and I never earned that. You’ve put up with my attitude, my grumpiness, and…shit, you’ve done more than put up with it. You’ve liked it because there has to be something seriously wrong with you.”
“Distinct possibility,” I admitted, putting my hand under his shirt to rest it on his stomach and feel the warmth of his skin. “Good for you, huh?”
“Good for me,” he admitted with a nod. “And…you’ve never let me go too far, you’ve known when to put me in my place, and you don’t back down easy. So seeing the way you just…retreated last night. The way you backed off…I realized Cait was right. I needed to think long and hard… don’t you dare, about what I wanted to say to you.”
“I’m becoming predictable,” I said with a heavy sigh.