Chapter 4
EMILY
I’d just finished laying out the last plate on the coffee table when the doorbell rang. I took a breath before crossing to answer it. Time to be fine. Totally fine and not at all a lonely loser.
I opened the door to chaos.
Hannah pushed past me first, wearing dinosaur pajama pants and an oversized hoodie, her curly blond hair piled on top of her head. Samara was right behind her, carrying a canvas tote that clinked suspiciously. Maya brought up the rear, looking a little worn around the edges as she hugged me.
“We’re here and we brought reinforcements!” Hannah announced, heading straight for the coffee table. “Holy shit, Em, did you buy out the entire cheese section?”
“There’re three kinds. That’s not that many.”
“That’s exactly two more kinds than necessary.” She grabbed a piece of the Irish cheddar and popped it in her mouth. “Okay, fine, I take it back. This is delicious. What is it?”
“The one with the crystals.”
“The what now?”
“The little crunchy bits. Those are cheese crystals. It means it’s aged.”
“Ooh la fucking la! It tastes amazing!”
That made me smile as the tension eased from my shoulders. This chaos was a balm compared to the silence I’d been drowning in.
Samara set her bag on the counter. “I brought extra wine.”
“Why would we need extra wine?”
She gave me a look. “Because it’s Saturday night and Maya said she needed to get drunk. Direct quote.”
Before the door could even latch, three more bodies squeezed into the hallway. It was a tangle of hugs and wine bottles as Mia, Cassidy, and Annie spilled in.
Mia immediately pulled me into a hug that lasted just a beat too long.
“I missed you,” she said into my shoulder.
“I saw you yesterday. At work.”
“Not the same.” She pulled back, her gray eyes searching my face. “You doing okay?”
“I’m fine. Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
“Because you’ve never lived alone before and I’m betting dollars to donuts you don’t like it.”
“I’m great, honestly,” I lied.
Annie was already pouring the wine, handing me a glass, which I took gratefully.
Poppy arrived last, her pink hair piled high, slightly breathless and carrying a bakery box.
“Sorry I’m late! Had to finish a wedding cake, and the bride changed her mind about the flowers at the last second, and then I thought, well, if I’m already covered in buttercream I might as well make something for tonight. ”
“You panic-baked,” Hannah said, grinning.
“I don’t panic-bake.”
“You absolutely panic-bake.”
“Well, if I do, at least everyone benefits.” Poppy set the box down and immediately grabbed a wine glass. “Also, I made those lemon bars you like, Em.”
“Aaaw, thank you!”
With our wine glasses full, we all settled in the living room and the chatter began. I soaked in the noise until Hannah set down her glass and turned to me.
“Alright, Emily. Are we going to talk about the incredibly hot dad I heard on your phone the other day, or are we going to keep pretending that didn’t happen?”
Six pairs of eyes swung toward me.
“Oh my god.” My face went hot. “Can we not?”
“We absolutely can and will,” Hannah said. “One minute, I’m giving you life saving automotive advice —”
“Bitching about Dex is what you were doing, actually!”
She glossed right over that. “—then I heard the sexiest male voice ever, ask if you needed help. And then you hung up on me!”
“That’s because of what you said!”
“I don’t think I said anything too bad?”
“YOU WERE ON SPEAKER!”
The room exploded.
“Wait, what did she say?” Poppy demanded.
“Did you hang up on her?” Cassidy was laughing.
Mia was grinning. “Oh, this is good.”
“It’s not good! It’s mortifying!” I grabbed my wine and took a long drink. “Hannah literally asked if it was Mr. Kirkland from number 32 or the incredibly hot dad from 36, and he was standing right there. I panicked and ended the call.”
Samara looked delighted. “So, it was the hot dad.”
“His name is Cam, and he was just helping me with my tire because I couldn’t get the lug nuts off.”
“Mmhmm.” Hannah’s grin was wicked. “And did he get your lug nuts off?”
“Oh my god, Hannah.”
“I’m just asking!”
“It doesn’t even make sense. What even are my lug nuts?” I held up a hand when Hannah opened her mouth to reply, saying hastily, “Never mind! But yes, he helped me change my tire. That’s it. That’s the whole story.”
“Is it, though?”
I frowned at Mia. “Yes. What else could it be?”
“Well, I rang you three times yesterday afternoon before you finally answered, to let you know about next week’s family barbecue, and then you were distracted all through the call.”
I sighed and set down my wine glass. Fine. If they wanted the whole story, I’d give them the whole story. “Oh, um, right. I was helping Cam assemble a trampoline.”
Mia watched me closely. “Oooh what now? He asked you to help him? This is an interesting development.”
“No, he didn’t ask. I could see he was struggling, so I offered.”
“You offered to help,” Hannah repeated slowly.
“Yes. He helped me with my tire! I owed him.”
“Uh huh.” Hannah exchanged a look with Samara. “And how long did this trampoline assembly take?”
“I don’t know, an hour? Maybe a little more?”
“An hour.” Cassidy was trying not to smile. “Of you and Hot Dad Cam working together in close proximity.”
“It was just holding poles and attaching springs. It wasn’t romantic.”
“Was there any accidental touching?” Poppy asked, her eyes bright.
“I mean, our hands brushed a few times when we were passing tools, but that’s normal when you’re working on something together.”
“Oh my god, there was touching,” Samara said.
“Minimal, completely platonic touching!”
“Did you talk?” Annie asked. “Like, actual conversation?”
I thought about it. The awkward silence after I’d recognized his company name. The careful way we’d worked around each other. How aware I’d been of every movement he made. “A little. He told me about his daughters. I asked about his work.”
“And?” Mia prompted.
“And nothing. We finished the trampoline, I went back to my house, the end.”
“Mmhmm.” Hannah was grinning. “And how did Hot Dad look while assembling said trampoline? Sweaty? Muscular? Both?”
“Good lord, you’re a horn bag!”
“I’m just asking relevant questions!”
“He looked like a normal person building a trampoline.”
“A normal, incredibly attractive person,” Samara said.
“With great forearms, I’m guessing,” Poppy added.
My face went hot. “I didn’t notice his forearms.”
“You absolutely noticed his forearms,” Mia laughed.
“Okay, fine. He has nice forearms. Happy?”
“Very,” Hannah said. “So when are you seeing him again?”
“I’m not. He’s my neighbor. That’s it.”
“But—”
“Trust me, he’s not interested.”
The playful energy in the room shifted slightly. Hannah tilted her head. “How do you know?”
“Because I know.” I reached for my wine again.
“You can’t spend over a decade on the pageant circuit without meeting a lot of pervs.
It gets pretty easy to weed them out, even when they think they’re being discreet.
But Cam’s just... he’s not like that. He’s polite, he’s helpful when needed, but there’s no interest there.
And honestly? I like it. It’s nice meeting a guy who doesn’t make it weird.
Who just treats me like a normal person instead of a display item. ”
Hannah was studying me with a look I didn’t like. “So, you’re saying you appreciate that he’s not hitting on you.”
“Exactly.”
“And that’s why you’re blushing right now while talking about him.”
“I’m not blushing, it’s the wine.”
“You’ve had like three sips.”
“It’s very strong wine.”
Hannah opened her mouth, probably to argue further, but Maya chose that moment to speak up.
“Can we talk about how I heard my parents having sex last night?”
The conversation pivoted so fast I got whiplash.
“Oh no,” Annie said.
“Oh YES,” Hannah corrected. “Tell us everything.”
“There’s nothing to tell except that I’m scarred for life and I need to move out immediately.” Maya took a long drink of wine. “I’ve been back home for six months, and they’ve been very sweet about it, but they’re also apparently in their second honeymoon phase and I cannot deal.”
“How bad was it?” Cassidy asked.
“I heard my dad call my mom ‘his naughty girl.’” Maya’s voice was flat. “I will never recover.”
“Oh god.” Poppy covered her mouth.
“I tried to drown it out with a pillow, but I heard EVERYTHING.”
“That’s awful,” Samara was clearly trying not to laugh.
“It’s traumatizing. I need to find my own place, but I’ve been looking for weeks and everything’s either too expensive or in a terrible location or has a weird smell.”
Mia glanced at me, then back at Maya, something shifting in her expression. “You should move in here.”
I blinked. “Huh?”
“Into my old room.” Mia’s voice was soft but certain. “I’m not using it anymore, Em hates living alone, and you need to escape your parents’ second honeymoon. It’s perfect.”
My chest went tight. Of course Mia would think of this. Of course she’d offer up her space to help both of us.
Maya’s head snapped toward me. “Would that be okay with you?”
I didn’t even need to think about it. The relief that flooded through me was almost embarrassing.
“Are you kidding? Fuck yes, that would be okay with me. I mean, if you want to. No pressure. But the room’s there and you’re welcome to it.
And I promise you won’t hear any sex noises,” I added with a wry smile.
Mia turned to Maya. “What do you say, Maya?”
She set down her wine glass and, before I knew what was coming, launched herself at both of us, nearly knocking me out of the armchair with the force of her hug. “Yes. Oh my god, yes. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Mia said, squeezing her tight.
Hannah raised her glass. “Okay, NOW we have something to toast to. To new roommates and escaping parental sex noises.”
“To Emily’s hot neighbor,” Samara added with a grin.
“To cheese crystals,” Annie said, ever the peacemaker.
“To all of it,” Cassidy agreed.