Chapter 15
15
“ Y ou weren’t kidding, Bourque,” Cody said. “This is one of the best burgers I’ve had since I’m back home.”
Geena felt a tiny swell of pride at selecting a place he would love. Like a continuation of whatever game they’d been playing of picking each other’s favorite foods.
Not that his pleasure was the only reason she’d wanted to eat there. The burgers were delicious, and she could get a smaller version of the fully loaded one. She liked burgers, but a third of a pound of meat was more chewing than she wanted in a meal. She’d much rather spend her effort munching on their perfectly seasoned crinkle fries.
Plus, the two-for-one beer, wine, or margaritas all evening made it an irresistible deal. Since they weren’t planning on staying long and Cody didn’t want to drive after drinking too much, they’d split the beer deal and both had a smooth, nutty lager from a local brewery.
Everything about the place was familiar and comforting to her. Everything except her dinner companion.
His choice to hold back on his drinking had surprised her a little. Her impression of him up until the last couple of days was that he was a bit of a free spirit. Like he did what he wanted in the moment with no consideration of the future, responsibilities, or other people.
But that assessment had been based on their first date and the way he’d arrived up on her doorstep with a bird and a date of his own. Since then, however, he’d shown a consistent level of concern and respect and even caring that she never would have expected from him.
Which made it harder to deny, or at least ignore, her growing attraction.
Geena’s phone buzzed, so she took a quick glance before flipping it over again.
“Problem?” Cody asked, dipping a fry in ketchup. “Not my business, but you look annoyed. Your ex?”
“No. I’m not really annoyed, just… I don’t know. It was Taylor asking me if I want to take a run with her tomorrow.
Cody looked at her curiously, like this information shifted his perception of her as much as her perception of him had shifted.
“You’re a runner?”
“Absolutely not,” Geena said. “Taylor thinks I need new hobbies. She doesn’t like that I spend so much time alone. But I enjoy being alone.”
Cody nodded. “That makes sense.”
“She isn’t entirely wrong about me needing more stuff to do. Not because I’m bored, though.”
Geena hesitated.
Why was she telling him all of this?
And why had she told him about her attraction to women as well as men?
She’d told him because he shared a bit about himself, and she had reciprocated.
Surprisingly, the fact that it was something more personal than they’d discussed before didn’t actually bother her. The two of them had slipped into a comfortable, friendly relationship without her realizing it. It just… happened. And she wasn’t at all upset by it.
“Then why don’t you want to try new hobbies?” he asked. “I mean, if you want to tell me. I’m just curious.”
“It’s the divorce.” She took a sip of her Diet Coke to buy a little time to phrase this properly. “Everything I thought my life was supposed to be was wrong for me. It wasn’t just that he didn’t fit. My whole life didn’t fit. I wasn’t happy.”
“I don’t understand,” he said. “Why would you do things that don’t make you happy?”
Ah yes. There was the pleasure-seeking creature she’d initially pegged him for. Of course, he wouldn’t understand that. Not that she was upset by it. It just helped everything about him make sense once again.
“I did things that I was supposed to do. Things that on paper should have made me happy. Stuffy cocktail hours with his firm associates. Dinners at places that required reservations. Watching the news and late-night talk shows before bed. It all sounded like things I should enjoy, with or without Ricky. But it all felt incredibly dull.”
Cody chewed the bite of burger he’d taken while she talked and waited to swallow it before continuing his investigation into her life.
“So, what kinds of things do you really like? What’s not dull to you?”
“Pizza.” She smiled. “You know the one.”
He smiled back. “It’s good pizza.”
“Burgers and beer,” she added. “And taking photos at the shelter. We did a big litter of puppies yesterday, and they were the cutest things. I still don’t want a dog, but it was fun. And fulfilling. I love it when they get adopted based on a really cute photo I took.”
“And what about other pictures? Like the ones I saw on your wall?”
Geena hadn’t taken photos like that in ages. Photos with no purpose other than to see the world through her lens.
“It’s been a while,” she said. “But maybe that’s something I can do again, too.”
“What about running?”
“What about it? I’ve never run a day in my life.”
Cody shrugged. “First time for everything. Could be fun, right? Won’t know until you try, and you’ll have your sister to hang out with while you do it. This seems like a perfect time for you to test out new stuff. Look how Gary worked out. You thought that would be terrible, but I see how you are with him. You like him.”
Geena couldn’t deny that last part. Gary had definitely grown on her.
But running?
She wasn’t keen on exercise of any type, but she wasn’t getting any younger. At some point, she’d need to take better care of her body. Yoga sounded like her brain would have too much time to spin on itself. She didn’t really want to go to a gym because exercising with other people wasn’t a motivator for her, and all of that equipment seemed daunting without hiring a personal trainer. Also not appealing.
“Maybe,” she said. “I did say I wanted to try new things.”
She’d been saying it was time to reimagine her life. In the same way Cody had made her consider whether she was bi and consider taking up photography as a hobby again, maybe she also needed to reconsider her stance on running.
“Speaking of new things.” Cody nodded at her phone. “Why don’t you check on that security feed to see if it’s working?”
“Right.” Geena flipped the phone over again and tapped a few things until she saw a black-and-white view from her front door. “Working great.”
“Awesome. I’ll feel much better about you alone there now. Just keep the dead bolt locked.”
“Not a problem.” She flipped the phone over again and raised her gaze back toward Cody. “I always?—”
She froze, her gaze stuck on the couple behind Cody who were entering the restaurant.
“What is it?” Cody turned to look over his shoulder, then back at Geena. “Someone you know?”
She could only nod. It was taking every ounce of energy to keep her heart from racing out of her chest.
Then they saw her.
“Well, this is interesting.”
His voice grated on her ears.
Thankfully, his girlfriend sat at a table across the room, equally eager to avoid Geena.
“Cody, this is my ex-husband, Ricky.” She waited a beat for Cody’s wide eyes to return to normal, and he turned to extend his hand. “Ricky, this is Cody.”
She intentionally left off any information about Cody. It was none of Ricky’s business.
“Soon-to-be ex-husband.” Ricky shook Cody’s hand stiffly but kept his eyes locked on Geena. “And to think, you’ve been giving me a hard time about the company I keep while you’ve been doing the same.”
Geena ignored him. “I thought you hated this place.”
His signature slimy grin stretched grotesquely across his face. “Turns out, it wasn’t the place I didn’t care for.”
Geena felt heat rise along the back of her neck.
Rage. Embarrassment. A whole slew of emotions swam in an internal stew.
She focused on her breath and counted backwards. Before she could respond, she realized she wasn’t the only one enraged by Ricky’s jab.
Cody glared at her ex, his breath rising and falling heavily in his chest.
The reaction caught her off guard. Was he actually angry on her behalf? Sure, Ricky made her see red, but Cody had nothing at stake here.
“Turns out, the feeling’s mutual,” she said, trying her best to diffuse the tension before she had to diffuse a physical brawl.
She didn’t support any kind of violence, no matter how much Ricky deserved it. And she didn’t know Cody well enough to know what it would take to push him over the edge.
It was time for a deflection strategy.
“Is that Monica hiding over there?” Geena pointed at the pretty brunette across the room who couldn’t be a day over twenty-one. She smiled and waved at the woman. “Isn’t it almost past her curfew?”
Cody choked on nothing at all. He put a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat to hide his laughter.
Ricky was less amused.
Truthfully, Geena had nothing against Monica. Part of her felt sorry for the young woman. Sure enough, the young woman’s brain would fully develop, and she’d realize how awful Ricky truly was. Then Monica would move on with her life to much better things.
“Very classy, Geena.” Ricky’s cheeks were the hot ones now. “Enjoy your… whatever this is.”
“I will,” Geena said. Then she shouted at his back as he walked toward Monica, “I look forward to seeing the last of those forms!”
He stumbled over his feet but quickly recovered, pretending not to hear her.
She still believed he was hiding something. Now that she knew he’d been representing Gary’s owner’s business dealings and that he was probably being held on a cash retainer, she felt confident she was on the right track to not trust anything he put on paper.
It was now a matter of how much she wanted to fight him on everything.
Part of her wanted to be done with it all.
But another petty part of her wanted to shine a very bright light on the shady jerk.
Cody grinned at her like he was beaming with pride at a kid who just learned how to ride a bike. “Those were some class-A serves you threw out there. Good work, Bourque.”
It felt satisfying to have the upper hand for once. And she didn’t care one bit if he thought something was going on between her and Cody. Let him think she was happy and moving on with her life.
After all, it was the truth.
Just not the way he assumed.
Or maybe exactly how he assumed, despite her denial.
They clinked their beer mugs as she said, “Thanks, Brasseaux.”
“I really wanted to punch that guy.”
Geena frowned at him. “I saw that.”
“I wasn’t going to,” he said. “But I wanted to.”
“He is a very punchable man.”
“I can’t believe you were married to that guy.”
She shrugged. “It looked like a good match on paper. Won’t be making that mistake again.”
Cody’s expression turned serious. “Really, though. You okay?”
“Yeah, fine.” And she was. Truly. He’d upset her at first, but the feeling was long gone. In part because of her present company. “I appreciate the concern.”
Her eyes locked with his and found something she hadn’t noticed before. Or maybe she hadn’t wanted to see before.
Caring?
Concern?
Something else?
Geena had seen it when he’d first shown up on her doorstep with Gary. But Gary wasn’t there, and he wasn’t the topic of conversation.
She was.
Heat built in her chest and crept up her neck. She was sure her cheeks must have been reddening under his stare. No hiding it now.
Time to deflect again.
“So, was the burger worth the drama?”
He looked down at his empty plate, then back at her. A small smile appeared, but that same look remained.
“I can handle a little drama,” he said. “You’re the one who has to deal with that stress. I’m sorry I added to it by asking you to take care of Gary.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “Gary’s the easy part of the equation at this point.”
“Good.” That look of his morphed into something more playful. “You know what gets rid of ex stress?”
Her cheeks grew hot against her will. “Uh, what?”
His grin widened. “Running.”
Geena rolled her eyes and laughed.
Why not? Might as well continue the reimagining her life quest.
She replied to Taylor’s text and told her she’d go running with her that weekend sometime.
“There. Happy, Brasseaux?”
Cody puffed up, taking pride in his work. “Ecstatic.”