“Well, to be fair, it’s hard not to like Aiden.” Cora grins. “It’s also hard not to like Jamie.”
“Exactly.” I take a bite, thinking. “So…Jamie gets us food and was going to just drop it off and leave. But Aiden was like no way, of course. So Jamie ends up eating dinner with us at our house.”
Cora blinks in surprise. “Wow. Really?”
I nod. “Really.”
“He’s the first single male you’ve had your house since Daniel left, right?”
I nod. “He’s the only man, period, except Dad, who has ever even been in my house.”
“So that’s a big deal.”
“Huge. What’s weird though is that at the time, it didn’t really feel that way.”
Cora frowns. “It didn’t?”
“I know, but it didn’t. It felt…totally normal. Sitting, eating, and talking to Aiden and Jamie in my home was just the most easy, natural, normal, and comfortable thing.”
Cora’s eyes widen, almost comically. “That is pretty significant! Elyse, don’t you realize what that means?”
I roll my eyes and shake my head, and hold my palms out to stop her. “Cora, no. Stop. Don’t. Just…don’t.”
She ignores me. “It means you’re meant for each other.”
“No, we’re not.”
She gives me a look of utter disgust. “You’re delusional! Does lying to yourself like that come easily, or do you have to work at it?”
“I’m not lying to myself,” I say, poking at my food again, finding it hard to look at her.
“Okay, well I can’t win against stupid, so I’m not going to try,” Cora says. “What happened next?”
I sigh again. “Aiden went to bed. Which left Jamie and I alone.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Yeah.” I close my eyes, duck my head. Drop my voice to a whisper. “We talked. About…us. He really wants to see if we could…if there could be something between us—”
“Well nothing could be more obvious, but continue.”
I ignore her statement, opening my eyes to meet her gaze again. “And I explained why I’m so afraid.”
“Aiden. You’re worried you and Jamie would break up and he’d be upset.”
“Not upset, Cora—devastated. Daniel leaving really messed him up. He thought it was his fault.” I suck in a shuddery breath, letting it out slowly.
Cora leans forward, her eyes piercing mine. “You didn’t…sleep together again, did you?”
“No.” I look away again, down at the table. “But he did kiss me.”
“Oh.” She blinks, hesitates. “Wow. So…how was it?”
“Even better than I remember it being.”
“Which, considering you used the word ‘magical’ when you told me about it the first time, is really saying something.”
It’s hard to breathe, hard to swallow past the lump in my throat and the butterflies in my belly. “Magical is the only word that applies.” I hesitate, chewing on my lip. “Other than…home. Or heaven. Or…perfect.”
