Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
DEREK
When I get home, my lights are on.
That’s the first sign someone's up to no good..
The second is the sound of laughter coming from my kitchen. Not loud. Not drunk. Familiar.
I pause inside the doorway, jacket still on.
“Don’t,” Alex calls. “If you turn around, I will absolutely chase you.”
“I live here,” I say.
“Yes,” Mark replies, calm as ever. “Which is why we let ourselves in.”
I step farther inside.
They’re both at my island. Alex has a beer. Mark has one of my good glasses and zero shame about it.
Alex looks me over. Slowly. Thoroughly.
“Well,” he says. “You look… upright.”
“That’s generally my goal,” I reply.
“Alive,” Mark adds.
“I was earlier too.”
Alex grins. “Hard to tell lately.”
I drop my keys on the counter and loosen my tie. My shoulders finally come down an inch.
“Sit,” Alex says, already pulling out a stool. “Tell us everything.”
“I’m not telling you everything.”
“Then tell us the important parts,” Mark says.
I sit.
“She invited me to dinner,” I say.
"So that's where you were," Mark says.
Alex freezes. Beer halfway to his mouth.
“Oh,” he says reverently. “She invited you.”
“Yes.”
Mark nods once. “That’s significant.”
“I’m aware.”
Alex sets his beer down. “Did you screw it up?”
“No.”
“Did you almost screw it up?”
“Also no.”
Mark raises a brow. “Progress.”
I exhale. A real one this time.
“It was… good,” I say. “Honest. Clear.”
Alex’s grin softens. “Look at you. Using adjectives.”
“She didn’t forgive me,” I add. “She didn’t promise anything.”
“Good,” Mark says immediately.
I nod. “She didn’t have to.”
Alex studies me. “You okay with that?”
“Yes.”
That surprises even me a little.
Mark leans back. “You’re different.”
“I know.”
“No,” Alex says. “Like… actually different. Not terrifying, but noticeable.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
“You live with it anyway.”
I shake my head, but I’m smiling now.
“She wants to move forward,” I say. “Carefully.”
Alex lifts his beer in a mock toast. “To careful.”
“To not fucking it up,” Mark adds.
“Very much that,” I say.
Alex tilts his head. “You tell her about Chuck.”
“Yes.”
“And the board.”
“Yes.”
“And the fact that you didn’t drink.”
“That came up.”
Mark watches me closely. “And you didn’t feel the need to explain why.”
“No.”
“Or justify it.”
“No.”
“Or ask her how she felt about your personal growth journey,” Alex says.
I glare.
“I did not.”
“Proud of you,” he says sincerely.
There’s a moment of quiet then. Comfortable. Earned.
Alex breaks it. “So. When do we meet her again.”
“You don’t,” I say.
Mark smirks. “Incorrect.”
I sigh. “Eventually.”
Alex grins. “We like her.”
“I know.”
“We really like her,” Mark adds.
“I also know that.”
Alex leans forward. “Don’t fuck this up.”
“I won’t.”
Mark nods. “Good.”
They stand a few minutes later, easy, satisfied.
At the door, Alex pauses. “You did good tonight.”
I meet his eyes. “I know.”
And for the first time in weeks, that doesn’t feel like a lie I’m telling myself.