18. Zoey #3
Liam: Just checking in. How are you?
There was something very deliberate about the way Liam had communicated with me. One call. One text. Then silence. No pressure. No expectation. He had simply placed the question in front of me and left the decision to respond to me.
Which meant he had probably assumed I was working. Or busy. Or not interested in talking. He had given me room. Which was thoughtful. Annoyingly thoughtful.
“He’s fine,” I said. “He’s not sitting somewhere dramatically waiting for my reply.”
Markie tilted his head.
I carried the phone into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. Markie followed behind me and landed on the headboard with a quiet thump.
“DOG.”
I groaned. “You have committed to the bit.”
I unlocked the screen.
The message thread opened immediately.
Liam: Just checking in. Are you okay?
Dr. Ellie’s session returned to my mind without invitation.
Safe people.
Notice them.
Allow access slowly.
The idea had sounded very reasonable when she said it earlier that morning. Sitting in her quiet office with mountains outside the window had made the concept feel almost achievable.
My thumb moved across the keyboard before I had fully decided what I was doing.
Zoey: Sorry. Had a busy few days. I’m good.
I stared at the sentence. Normal and friendly. I deleted it.
Markie leaned forward from the headboard, watching with interest.
I typed again.
Zoey: Mei dropped off something incredible for dinner.
I studied that one too. Deleted.
Markie shifted above me, feathers rustling.
I set the phone on the nightstand and leaned back against the pillows.
The ceiling fan turned slowly overhead while the quiet of the evening settled into the room. Outside, a car moved down the road, then disappeared into the distance.
Dr. Ellie’s words returned.
People who respect your boundaries.
People who don’t require you to fix everything.
People who allow you to move at your own pace.
I rolled onto my side and looked at the phone again.
The message thread was still open.
My fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before I locked the phone and set it back down. “Maybe tomorrow.”
Markie rustled his feathers. “DOG.”
“Yes.”
“DOG WAIT.”
I stared at the ceiling.
By the time I pushed open the restaurant door in Albany, I already regretted my choice of footwear.
Heels had seemed like a good idea when I left the apartment.
Heels made me feel confident and a little dramatic in the best way.
They also currently made my feet feel like they had been personally offended by my life decisions.
The hostess looked up. “Meeting someone?”
“Yes,” I said. “I think I see them in the back.”
My party had taken over a long table near the window. Cris spotted me first, waving both arms in the air with alarming enthusiasm. “There she is!”
Four heads turned.
Cris. Jamie. Morgan. Alex.
I walked over carefully, which meant slowly and with the dignity of someone pretending her feet were not currently screaming.
“You’re late,” Morgan said.
“I live an hour away now,” I replied. “Geography complicates things.”
Cris stood and pulled me into a hug before I could sidestep it. “You look so good!”
“It’s just the lighting.”
She ignored that and pulled out the chair next to her. “I saved you a seat.”
The small gesture warmed something in my chest before my brain could object.
I sat, smoothing down my dress while the familiar noise of the table wrapped around me. Plates clinked. Someone laughed at the bar. The restaurant smelled faintly of soy sauce and rice.
Normal life.
Cris leaned toward me. “I ordered tea for you.”
“Thank you.”
That warmth showed up again.
My brain immediately began issuing warnings.
Careful.
Don’t get attached.
Dr. Ellie’s words floated up in response.
Notice safe people.
Allow access slowly.
I glanced around the table.
Jamie was already halfway through a glass of wine. Morgan was reorganizing the chopsticks. Alex was watching everyone with the calm amusement of someone who expected chaos and enjoyed it.
Maybe I didn’t need to brace for disaster immediately.
When the waitress arrived, we ordered sushi with such enthusiasm, you’d have thought none of us had eaten for days.
Conversation turned to work.
“Have you met the new boss yet?” Alex asked.
Jamie groaned. “He scheduled a meeting about synergy.”
Morgan rolled her eyes. “He used that word?”
“Four times.”
“That’s a crime.”
Cris shook her head. “This is why we shouldn’t work in corporate environments.”
I sipped my tea. “It’s why I moved to the mountains.”
Morgan pointed a chopstick at me. “That reminds me.”
I immediately sensed danger.
Jamie sat up slightly. Cris leaned forward. Alex lowered her glass with suspicious interest.
I looked around the table. The formation was unmistakable. I had become the entertainment.
I sighed. “That is never a good opening.”
Morgan leaned forward. “So.”
I narrowed my gaze. “So?”
She smiled sweetly. “Have you talked to the extremely sexy mountain man you slept with on our girls’ weekend?”
I stared at her. “No.”
Cris slapped the table. “You never told us what happened!”
“It’s private.”
“You left with him,” Jamie said.
“That doesn’t make it a public event.”
“You disappeared for hours,” Alex added.
“That is how privacy works.”
Morgan leaned closer. “Zoey.”
“No.”
“Zoey.”
“No.”
Cris set down her chopsticks. “We need closure.”
“You do not need closure.”
“Yes, we do.”
I rubbed my forehead. I became aware of a woman at the booth behind me who had turned around in her seat. She was watching us with open interest.
I ignored her.
“Fine,” I said.
“What happened?” Jamie demanded.
I took a sip of tea, knowing more silence from me would only make them suspicious.
I had three options.
Deflect.
Detonate the room and end the interrogation immediately.
Or have girl talk with a group of women I had told myself I was going to try and slowly open up to.
Fuck my life. Here we go. “It was the best sex of my life.”
Silence.
Then chaos.
“Oh my god.”
“I knew it.”
“I absolutely knew it.”
The woman in the other booth gasped. “I knew it too!”
I turned slowly.
She held up both hands. “Sorry. Continue.”
Morgan stared at her. “Are you… invested in this?”
“Yes.” She turned fully around in her booth. “Please proceed.”
I rubbed my temples. “Why is everyone like this?”
Cris leaned forward. “What happened after?”
“I had a plan.”
“What plan?”
“To never see him again.”
The woman behind me gasped.
Cris clutched her chest. “You slept with a man that hot and planned to never see him again?”
“That was the idea.”
Morgan narrowed her gaze. “What changed?”
I sighed. “Emergency contact forms.”
“Explain,” Alex said.
“I put him down on a form at the B&B.”
“Why?”
“He was in the room with me, and I assumed it wouldn’t matter.”
The woman behind me leaned forward. “It mattered?”
“Yes,” I said. “It mattered.”
Cris grabbed my arm. “What happened?”
“I fell.”
They all froze.
“You fell?” Jamie asked.
“Yes.”
“And they called him?”
“They called him.”
Morgan slapped the table. “They called your one-night stand as your emergency contact?”
“Yes.”
The woman behind me swooned dramatically. “Romantic.”
I groaned. “It was not romantic.”
“What did he do?” Jamie demanded.
“He showed up.”
“Of course he did,” Cris said.
“He stayed.”
The woman behind me clutched her chest. “Oh my god.”
“He cooked for me.”
“Hot.”
“It was terrible. He checked the locks on my doors.”
“Extremely hot.”
“He unpacked my kitchen.”
Morgan pointed a chopstick at me. “That is marriage behavior.”
“He made sure I ate.”
Cris leaned back in her chair. “You’re describing a dream man.”
I rubbed my temples. “That’s exactly the problem.”
“Why is that a problem?” Jamie said.
“He’s… very competent.”
They stared at me.
“That’s the complaint?” Alex asked.
“I have complicated feelings about people doing things for me.”
Morgan huffed. “You’re telling us a giant attractive man showed up, fed you, fixed your house, and you’re conflicted?”
“Yes.”
“You’re insane.”
“That’s rude,” I said.
“It’s accurate.”
The woman in the booth nodded vigorously. “She’s right.”
Morgan leaned closer. “Do you like him?”
Four faces waited for an answer they already suspected.
My brain immediately began assembling defensive arguments.
Too soon. Too complicated. Too many variables.
Unfortunately, none of those arguments actually answered the question.
I hesitated, and that was answer enough for them.
“Oh my god,” Cris said. “You like him.”
I stared at my sushi. “Maybe.”
Jamie grabbed my shoulders. “Text him!”
I thought about the unanswered message on my phone.
Dr. Ellie’s voice returned to my mind.
Safe people.
Allow access slowly.
It sounded nice. Actually, it sounded really nice.
Maybe I had been guarding the door so aggressively that I forgot someone might deserve to walk through it.
My phone buzzed on the table.
Everyone looked down. I flipped it over.
Unknown number.
I answered. “Hello?”
“Is this Zoey Carter?”
“Yes.”
“This is Officer Ramirez with the Southern Adirondack Police Department. We’ve had a break-in reported at your apartment,” he said. “You’ll need to come right away.”
My stomach dropped.
The woman behind me whispered, “Well, that escalated.”
I stood up slowly.
“Yes,” I said. “Yes, it did.”