The door swings open a few inches, and the first thing I see is Molly’s cloud of hair. Her face is still turned towards whoever’s in the living room, and when she looks at me, her laugh catches in her throat but doesn’t leave her features.
“JP!” she says brightly. “What are you doing here?”
She opens the door wider, and that’s when I see Paul sitting on her couch.
“It’s the rock star!” he greets me.
Then he does the fucking jazz hands.
“I, uh...” I pause and cough, searching for an excuse. “Is Stéphanie home? I just came for some protein bars.”
“She’s at the studio,” Molly tells me. She gives me a mischievous little smile. “I thought you were justsamplingher protein bars so you could buy your own.”
I can’t help smiling back; even with that douche canoe sitting on her couch, her smile still makes me feel like I’m the lucky fucker who gets to live on the side of the fence where the grass is always green.
“Well, I have to sample them a few times before I can be really sure which kind I like. You know how it is.”
“I really don’t know how it is.” She steps back and motions for me to come inside. “But I’m sure we could find you a few of them.”
I stay standing in the doorway. “I’m not...interrupting am I?”
“Oh, no. Paul was just saying he has to leave.”
He gets up from the couch and pulls a jacket on before adjusting his man-bun.
Yep. Still smaller than mine.
I follow Molly into the apartment and lean against the refrigerator as she and Paul say goodbye. He reaches for her elbow and leans in like he’s going to kiss her, but she turns her head at the last second so he catches her cheek.
“Bye, Molly,” I hear him mutter against her skin.
She steps back a second later. “Bye, Paul. See you at work.”
He looks over her head at me and juts his chin out. “Later, rock star.”
She shuts the door behind him and then joins me in the kitchen, avoiding my eyes as she pulls all the cupboard doors open and starts tossing boxes of protein bars onto the tiny counter. Her cheeks are practically glowing they’re so pink.
“So...” I begin, still leaning on the fridge with my arms crossed. “How are things going with Paul?”
“Good,” she squeaks. “We just went on our third date today. He took me to a movie, and then we came back here for a bit.”
I feel like there’s a lion in my chest, pacing around inside a cage, just waiting for the chance to fucking destroy something with its claws.
“Came back here, huh?” I repeat. Somehow my voice sounds even.
I didn’t think Molly could get any pinker, but she does. “We didn’t like—We’re not, uh,together, as in like—There’s been no nakedness involved.”
I know I shouldn’t laugh, but I do. I laugh for a long time. She just looks so adorably awkward.
“No nakedness involved,” I repeat, when I can actually talk again. “Got it.”
She reaches over and punches my arm. “Don’t make fun of me! God, I don’t know why I said that. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I urge. “I like when you trust me enough to tell me things.”
I don’t know where that piece of sincerity came from, but it hangs between us, a heavy weight dragging down on my neck. We’re silent until I grab one of the protein bars and rip it open, chomping down on a huge bite.
“Merde alors,” I mumble around a mouthful. “I’m fucking starving.”
