“If I said yes, would you come over and try to stop me?”
She grunts in irritation.
“No, I haven’t been dating.”
“Just promise me you won’t get back with Tiffany.” There’s a sneer in her voice.
“Why are you thinking about Tiffany?”
“I met her today. Ant, she was just awful. You can do better than that. You deserve someone who?—”
I swallow hard. “Someone who what?”
“Respects you.”
My chest squeezes. “Thank you, Piper. For respecting me.”
There’s a long pause before she talks again. “Would you like me to go with you?”
“We can go anywhere you like,” I joke.
“To the wedding. I could go with you, if it will help you feel comfortable.”
My stomach does a swoop.
“If the crowd is too big, or it’s too bright, or too noisy, we can leave,” she assures me. “We’ll bring your sunglasses and earplugs if you want, and?—”
I cannot stop smiling. “You’d do that for me?”
“Of course,” she says with a little laugh. “Why wouldn’t I? We’re friends.”
“Right. Of course. We’re friends,” I repeat. The word stabs at me, but Ness was right. This small contact is so much better than never speaking to her, or seeing her.
“Yes, friends,” she mutters. I hear her shifting in the bed. Alone. Curled under her covers. Warm and soft.
I cannot stop the purr caught in my throat.
“Hmph.” She makes a strange noise on the other side of the phone.
“What are you doing right now?” I ask.
“Just lying in bed. Trying to sleep,” she replies. “I can’t sleep when you purr like that.” Her voice goes breathy.
“Do you want me to stop?”
“God no.”
I settle into my office chair, making the noise again, letting my chest rumble.
“I could listen to that sound all day. It’s almost like ASMR, but—” she murmurs, on the edge of sleep, or maybe something else.
My rumble deepens, and she releases a small gasp. Yes. That is what I wanted to hear, she's far from sleep.
I pause my purr. “But what?”
She groans.
“What?” I pester, leaning forward in my chair. I can feel she’s about to say something amazing.
