Chapter Twenty-One
Judah fiddled with his cufflinks as he cocked his head toward the door, listening for the sound of the stairway door opening and closing.
He could tell himself all he wanted that the butterflies in his stomach were about Mira meeting Akiva for the first time, but he knew he was at least as, if not more, anxious about seeing Ari again.
A knock sounded at the door, gentle in a way that told Judah it was Mira, not Ari, making the fist. Still, he braced himself, only for Akiva to open the door and reveal Mira standing there alone.
Judah blinked, waiting for Ari to poke her face in, until finally Mira said, “Uh, hi? You must be Akiva. I’m Mira.”
Oh, crap. Judah realized a beat too late that he should’ve been the one making that intro. He swooped over to the door. “Hey,” he said, giving her the warmest smile he could muster. “Glad you made it.”
“Yeah, good to meet you,” said Akiva, “even if you have terrible taste in men. Speaking of which, where’s Ari?”
“She’s not feeling well,” Mira said with a frown. “Said to tell you all she’s sorry to miss dinner.”
Bullshit, Judah thought at the same moment Akiva coughed it into his fist. Judah glared at his brother, who smirked and then pretended to have something to do in the kitchen.
He should’ve felt relieved. Not seeing Ari meant not putting himself to any tests, not having to avoid staring at her lips or anything else all night. And knowing Ari, she would’ve worn something low cut, just because she could.
You’re here with Mira, he reminded himself, jamming his hands into his pockets. Your sweet and lovely and appropriate girlfriend who is here to spend time with your brother. And maybe he did want to see Arielle to prove to himself that he’d moved on, but he could also prove it by just … moving on.
Which he’d already done. Obviously.
“Akiva’s brother!” Danny descended upon them from the bathroom, where he’d clearly been dousing himself in cologne.
But Judah was so relieved for the distraction, he didn’t even want to toss him off the balcony the way he usually did.
Danny gave him a slap five into a handshake, before turning his attention to Mira.
“And you must be the future Mrs. Klein.”
Never mind. A murder was absolutely in order.
Mira’s cheeks flamed red, but the glance she shot Judah’s way was … hopeful? “Mira,” she said with a smile that showed all her teeth.
“So lovely to meet you.” Danny swept into a flirty bow that had Judah rolling his eyes. He could not believe Arielle’d hooked up with this tool. The smallest, pettiest part of him was dying to let Danny know exactly who he’d overheard thoroughly pleasuring her a few weeks earlier.
“It is!” Akiva chimed in, gesturing them all toward the living room and sinking into an armchair. “So, Mira, tell me absolutely everything about you.”
Mira gladly obliged, sharing all the information Judah already knew—her job, her degree, her siblings, her crocheting—but he listened closely anyway, as if some new piece of information would arise that would help Akiva understand why she was more than just “nice.”
“How about TV?” Akiva asked casually. “What are your favorite shows?”
“I don’t watch a lot of TV,” she said, a hint of apology in her voice. “I have a lot of reading for work.”
“Oh, come on. You don’t watch any of the Real Housewives franchises?”
Mira blushed. “Okay, maybe a little Beverly Hills.”
Well, that was new. Not particularly of interest to Judah, but at least it gave Akiva something to talk to her about.
“You’ve gotta get Judah to watch it with you.” Akiva flashed a smirk at his brother. “I can’t wait to hear all his thoughts.”
“I’m sure it’ll be deeply enlightening,” Judah said wryly.
“Hey, if you can learn to like shows about tiny houses…”
“Yeah, but those are fun to be infuriated at—” Judah cut himself off as Akiva’s smirk stretched into a full-on smile dripping with smugness, and he knew he’d been caught in a trap. “It’s getting late. Maybe we should make kiddush.”
“Are we sure Ari’s not coming?” Akiva asked innocently.
Judah narrowed his eyes into a glare. “We’re sure.”
Two hours and a mildly awkward dinner later, Judah walked Mira downstairs to Liana and Arielle’s apartment, his heart growing heavier with every step.
The night had been fine, but his irritation that Ari had skipped out after all that time he’d spent bracing himself to see her had only grown.
And now here he was, approaching her door, and he found that the need to mentally prepare himself to see her still hadn’t gone away.
Would she answer in a tank top and shorts again?
Would she look annoyingly cute in sweats and a T-shirt?
Or would she be dressed nicely for Shabbos, like the last time he’d come to Akiva’s, confusing and compelling him in an entirely different way that made him forget they were a poor fit?
But he was bracing himself for nothing; she didn’t even answer Mira’s gentle knock. Finally, Mira turned the knob and found that it opened easily, and the main living area was empty. “She must’ve gone to sleep,” Mira said with a shrug. “She did say she wasn’t feeling well.”
Judah didn’t believe it for a second, but what exactly could he do? Bang on her door and demand she emerge and face him so he could prove to them both once and for all that he’d put her behind him? “Yeah. So, did you have fun tonight?”
“I did,” she said with a soft smile. “Your brother and his friends are really nice.”
Nice. He was sure Akiva would appreciate that.
“They are.”
Silence fell between them, and Judah knew he should break it, but he didn’t know how. If she were Ari, she’d probably be tugging on his belt or wrapping her arms around his neck—something that told him exactly what should come next. But Mira was looking up at him, waiting for something.
He just didn’t know what.
Finally, the awkwardness became unbearable, and Judah gave up. “Good night,” he said, just as Mira asked, “Do you want to kiss me?”
Judah coughed, unsure if he was hearing her right but also pretty sure he was. “Excuse me?”
A blush was pretty on Mira. Sweet. Nice.
“Sorry, I—Arielle made a comment before that suggested you might—I mean, I don’t know if it was offhand or if she knows something I don’t, and maybe I was just misinterpreting, but”—her face burned flame red—“if you wanted to, I—that would be okay. If you wanted to.”
Arielle made a comment? What the hell could she have said?
There was no way she’d mentioned hooking up with Judah; Mira wouldn’t be looking at him like that if she had.
But she’d stuck her nose in his business, messed with his girlfriend even though she was so disinterested she couldn’t even be bothered to face him at dinner, and now he was pissed.
Pissed enough to cup Mira’s face in his hands and press his lips to hers.
She made a pleased noise in her throat and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close.
It was … nice.
Kissing Ari was probably nice too, Judah could hear Akiva yammer in his head, but it isn’t the word you’d use to describe it.
That was true. This wasn’t anything like kissing Ari.
It was soft and gentle, and the way Mira sighed delicately against his mouth wasn’t anything like Ari tugging his lip between her teeth.
His fingertips were grazing the soft skin of her cheeks, not the curves of her body or the line of her throat.
But different didn’t have to mean bad, did it?
Different was just … different. Good different, maybe, if the fact that he was actually able to think was anything to go by.
It wasn’t the kind of kiss that would distract him during davening tomorrow.
It wasn’t the kind of kiss that’d occupy his mind until the very last minute of a wedding.
But there were soft hands gripping his shoulders and a tentative tongue touching his, and it was nice and normal and functional and the way things should be.
The way things had to be.
On the other side of Arielle’s bedroom door, she tried not to puke into the bag of chili-lime chips she was eating for dinner, listening as Judah and Mira finally tore their mouths apart and said good night.
One thing was for sure: Bella and Zach were getting an uninvited guest for lunch tomorrow, because there was no way Ari was putting herself in the vicinity of Judah Klein ever again without an entire wedding between them.