“Well, I’m flattered.” I truly was. Annika didn’t have to admit that to me and it meant so much to me that she had. “I promise not to tell a soul.”
“I know you won’t.” Annika picked her water back up off the bar. “But now that you know our biggest secret, you have to meet my husband, Wren. Do you have any free time next weekend?”
I, unfortunately, had all the free time in the world since I couldn’t spend too much time with the person I really wanted to. “Any day works for me. Just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.”
“How about Saturday night at our house? I commute into the city, so it’ll be a little bit of a hike for you, but if you don’t mind that, we promise to be very hospitable.”
“Sounds perfect.”
***
When Saturday rolled around, I was much more nervous than I expected to be. I couldn’t remember the last time I had met new people on my own. When I really thought about it, it almost never happened. Most of my friends throughout the years were friends of my siblings or Marcie. Since the friendships I made at my last job didn’t go beyond lunch datesand work happy hours, I didn’t really count those. This was a big deal for me.
I smiled at the thought. At twenty-eight, it was pretty pathetic that I was proud of myself for making friends, but I was proud. It didn’t matter how long it took me. The fact that I was doing it now was a big deal. I was branching outside of my comfort zone, and that was a good thing.
I knocked on Annika’s front door with the hand that wasn’t holding the pie I had made. I had waited until Jax went to work to make the pie because I knew she would offer to help and baking together wouldn’t be good for my heart, especially when I knew for a fact that Jax had gone to the dog park multiple times over these past two weeks. I didn’t ask if she was meeting Maxine there, but the pit in my stomach told me she was.
A minute later, a tall, skinny man with dirty blonde hair opened the door for me. “You must be Carter.” He held out his arms toward me. “I’m Wren. It’s nice to meet you.” Before I knew what was happening, he pulled me into a tight hug.
“Sorry about my husband,” Annika said from behind us. “He’s a hugger.”
When Wren pulled away from me, his face was bright red. “Sorry. I tend to forget that not everyone is.”
“All good. My whole family is big on hugs, so I’m very used to it.”
Wren smiled widely as the redness disappeared from his cheeks. “That’s good. I think Annika would kill me if I scared her closest friend away.”
Closest friend?He had to have been joking. Even though I figured he was, it still made me happy to be referred to in that way.
Annika walked over to Wren and placed a hand on his arm. “You’re definitely going to scare her away if you say things like that.” She focused her attention on me. “I promise I haveother friends. They just don’t live close by. Since I’m always leaving home to go into the city, I feel like I still haven’t had a chance to really get to know any of our neighbors.”
I put my hands in the air. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. My closest friends are my brother, sister, and moms, so I’d never judge.”
Annika dropped her hand from husband's arm and intertwined her arm with mine instead. “See. This is why I like you so much. Let me give you a tour of the house.”
After the tour, Annika led me back to the kitchen, which smelled fantastic from Wren’s cooking. “So, we are pretty much the opposite of fancy around here and normally sit on the floor in our family room and watch TV during dinner. It’s completely up to you if you want to get the full DuPont family experience or sit at the kitchen table like actual civilized individuals.”
“I want the full experience.” I appreciated how real Annika was and loved the idea of a more relaxed meal. When Jax and I ate together, we often held our plates on our laps while we sat on the couch together.
Jax. Just the thought of her made my heart tug in my chest. Maybe this distance thing wasn’t the best idea. It wasn’t helping anything, and I missed her like crazy. I missed the way things used to be between us.
A hand on my arm brought me back to the present moment, and I looked over to find Annika staring at me. “What just happened? You suddenly looked a million miles away.”
I sighed. If we were going to be good friends, I might as well be honest with her. “I was thinking about my roommate.”
Annika wiggled her eyebrows at me and led me toward the family room. “Please tell me more.”
As soon as we were sitting together in front of the coffee table, I let the whole story slip out. I told Annika about Jax being my sister’s best friend and how I took over her part of thelease when I moved to New York. I explained our lists and all of the time we had been spending together. I could still feel it throughout my body as I talked about the kiss and how it had completely rocked my world.
“Carter.” Annika stared at me for a long time without saying a word. I was starting to fidget under her intense gaze when she finally spoke again. “This girl clearly likes you.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I appreciate your confidence in me, but I really don’t know. Jax is way out of my league.”
Annika moved her eyes up and down my body and cackled. “Girl, have you looked in the mirror? I don’t see how anyone could be out of your league. Hell, I’m straight, but if I wasn’t married, I’m pretty sure evenI’dbe interested.”
Now I knew she was just being nice. If what she was saying was true, I was pretty sure I would have been on at least one date in the past six years. “Thank you, but my dating history says otherwise.”
Wren walked into the room holding two plates, filled with pasta with chicken and broccoli covered by Alfredo sauce. The sight and smell alone had my stomach growling.
