12. CHAPTER TWELVE #4
“I tried to teach him. He burned them once and now refuses.”
“That is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“He was pissed for two days.”
“That makes it cuter.”
I laugh and hand her jeans back.
She slides off the counter to put them on. Her tank is missing. We both look around.
“Where did you put it?” I ask.
“I didn’t put it anywhere. You took it off.”
“I handed it to you.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I did.”
“You absolutely did not.”
We search the kitchen.
I find it underneath one of the chairs.
Gianna stares at it. “How did that get all the way over there?”
“You.”
“I did not throw my shirt six feet.”
“You were distracted.”
She takes it from me.
My phone buzzes on the island.
Stanley.
Stanley: Coming home in like 25.
I show Gianna.
Her eyes widen. “Oh my God.”
“That’s nothing. You accomplished a lot in eight yesterday.”
She laughs, looking around. “We need to clean.”
“There’s nothing to clean.”
Gianna points at the counter. “I was naked there.”
“Mhm.”
“Oh my God.”
She starts wiping the counter with a paper towel.
I laugh.
“Stop laughing and help.”
“Help with what?”
“Erasing evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“DNA.”
I stare at her.
She freezes.
Then starts laughing so hard she drops the paper towel. She bends down to pick up her bag and immediately stops.
“Wait.”
“What?”
She touches her hair. “Do I look weird?”
“Yes.”
Her mouth falls open.
I smile. “You always look weird.”
“Fuck you.”
She comes over and shoves me in the chest.
I catch her around the waist.
Gianna laughs and tries to get away.
I kiss her once. Then again. The second one lasts longer. When she pulls back, her smile has changed.
“We should stop.”
“Yeah.”
Neither of us moves.
“Rowan.”
“Yeah?”
“We should actually stop.”
“Probably.”
She stares at me for another second before slipping out of my arms.
Gianna puts on her coat and sits on the bench by the front door to lace her boots. I lean against the wall nearby because apparently I’m following her to the door now.
She shakes her head, but she’s smiling while she finishes the other boot.
When she stands, she checks her phone. “Lucy texted me.”
“What’d she say?”
“She wants to know if I’m coming home tonight.”
I look at her.
Gianna looks at me. “Is she at my place with Benson? Dear Lord.” She slides her phone back into her pocket.
I think about what she said yesterday. “You still haven’t told her yet?”
Gianna looks up. “No.”
“Why?”
She watches me for a second like she’s deciding whether I genuinely forgot. Then she leans one shoulder against the door. “I told you.”
“I know. I mean…” I look toward the living room, trying to find the right version of what I’m asking. “You tell Lucy everything.”
That makes her smile a little. “I do.”
“So this is weird for you.”
“Very.”
I laugh.
Gianna looks down at her shoes.
Then she shrugs. “I don’t want to turn this into something public before it’s something to us.”
I don’t say anything.
She looks up. “And I don’t mean that dramatically.
I’m not sitting at home waiting for you to decide whether I’m worthy of a title or whatever.
” She rolls her eyes at the thought. “I’m having fun.
I really like what we’re doing. I just know the second Lucy knows, it becomes information that exists outside of us, and then I start wondering whether Benson knows and whether Stanley knows and whether everybody is watching us. ”
I nod and reach for her hand. She lets me take it. There’s nothing sexual about it this time. I just hold it. Gianna looks down at our hands, then back up.
“I don’t want you to feel like I’m hiding you either,” she says.
“I don’t.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
She narrows her eyes.
I laugh.
Then headlights pass across the front window. Gianna drops me instantly. I look toward the glass. She does too. The car keeps going.
We both start laughing.
“This is ridiculous,” she says.
“You like it.”
“I really do.”
That makes me smile.
She opens the door. Cold air comes in around her.
“Bye.”
“Bye, G.”
She gets halfway down the front steps before turning around.
“Rowan?”
“Yeah?”
“You’ll be able to walk after tonight, right?”
I stare at her.
She grins and runs toward her car before I can answer.
I laugh and shut the door.
The house is quiet again.
But not for long. Stanley will be back soon, then probably everybody else within the hour. The kitchen looks normal. Two plates are in the dishwasher. The counters are clean because Gianna apparently believes Stanley possesses forensic equipment. My laptop is still open where I left it.
Her hair tie is beside it. I pick it up and set it next to my phone, so I remember to give it back. Then I stand there longer than I need to.
I should probably be moving on with my night, but I’m just staring at the counter, thinking about what happened on there.
It was hot. It was fun. Wanting to hook up with her makes sense.
She’s beautiful. I like kissing her. I like touching her.
Apparently I like losing arguments to her while she’s on her knees too.
The rest of it is less simple.
My phone buzzes.
Gianna: Home.
I smile.
Me: Okay.
Three dots appear immediately.
They disappear.
I laugh alone in the kitchen.
Another message comes through before I put the phone down.
Gianna: Tonight was fun.
I look at that longer than the others.
Me: Yeah.
The typing bubble appears.
Gianna: THAT’S ALL I GET?
I grin.
Me: It was really fun, G.
A few seconds pass.
Gianna: Better.
Gianna: Goodnight.
Me: Night.
I sit down at the table and open my laptop.
My assignment is still open.
I read the first paragraph again, get halfway through the second sentence, and realize I haven’t absorbed a word.
Gianna has been gone for maybe ten minutes.
The house already feels quieter than it did before she got here.