It’s too late to take it back now, or to push that thought away.
“Me neither.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
We both laugh, then I’m forced to say goodbye; I can hear someone yelling for me from the kitchen.
“I have to go. They’re calling for me in the kitchen.”
“Of course.”
“See you soon.”
“See you.”
I hang up and slip my phone back into my pocket. I put out my cigarette in the ashtray beside me and head back in to finish my shift, a hope becoming almost a certainty that Mr. Quinn is dying to see me as much as I’m dying to see him.
34Sean
When Eric comes to pick me up and take me to his grandmother’s for the holidays, I’m a bundle of nerves and regret.
“Hey,” he says at the door.
“Hi,” I say, inviting him inside. He steps into my apartment and I close the door behind me.
“You ready?”
“I don’t know.”
Eric nods slowly.
“Three days feels like a long time.”
“A long time to spend with me?” he asks, the corner of his mouth lifted.
A long time to resist that mouth – and everything else.
I clear my throat, trying to make way for my thoughts – at least, the ones I can say out loud.
“It’s a situation that makes me a little uncomfortable: spending so much time with people I don’t know very well.”
“Of course, I understand.”
“Besides, I don’t want to leave Mila on her own. She’s still staying with me, and hasn’t gone back to her apartment yet. She doesn’t have anywhere to go – she certainly can’t go back to living with Ethan’s sister now that they’ve broken up.”
Eric pokes his head over my shoulder to look over into the kitchen, where Mila is making a cup of tea.
“I thought Jake was around?”
“Please, don’t remind me.”
Eric laughs.
“I still don’t know whether I can trust him.”
“I thought he was your best friend?”
