25. Emma
EMMA
By the time I found Will’s building, I was already freezing.
The January cold had settled into that bitter sharpness that made your nose hurt and made every streetlamp glow brighter than it was meant to.
My breath came out in little clouds as I rang the bell, thinking about how to explain my late arrival.
The door buzzed open and I took the lift to the top floor. Grace, cheerful and flushed, pulled me inside Will’s flat with her usual warmth. “Emma! You made it.”
“Barely,” I admitted, taking off my scarf. “Quebec is to blame for my being late. One of my colleagues got ill this afternoon, and they need someone to replace her. Apparently, that someone is me. My flight leaves obscenely early, so I’m afraid I can’t stay too long.”
“You’re off to Quebec?” Simon’s voice came from the kitchen, sounding like he couldn’t believe it.
He appeared a second later with a drink in hand.
“You’re living the glamorous life, darling.
All those poor professors are stuck with their unsuspecting students, and you’re gallivanting to francophone provinces. Nice!”
“It’s not gallivanting,” I said as I followed Grace into the flat. “I’ll probably be in a conference room most of the time.”
“Still counts,” Simon said airily. “You’ll at least come back with a new scarf. Québécois always have better scarves.”
The living room was already full. Some people I knew, like Seth and Bridget. And Max of course, who was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and a beer bottle next to him. He looked up and my chest suddenly tightened, as if my heart had been caught off guard.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi.” I tried to hide my big smile by taking off my scarf, but when I spotted the pizza boxes on the coffee table, I couldn’t hide it anymore. There was a box with the word “Veggie” written on it in marker.
Max caught my glance. “Figured I’d better make sure you weren’t stuck with just salad.”
That warmth filled me before I could stop it. “Thank you,” I said, softer than I meant.
His answering smile was quick, almost shy.
* * *
The evening went by quickly. Someone found a worn-out deck of cards and made up a drinking game on the spot.
Pizza crusts disappeared and glasses clinked.
I sat with Grace for a while, listening to her stories about Lucy and Lucas.
Simon constantly interrupted the game, his comments more entertaining than the actual rules.
At one point, the cushions shifted, and I ended up sitting next to Max on the sofa.
I curled my feet under me and tucked them to the side, like I always do.
Without meaning to, I let my legs rest against his thigh.
He didn’t move them away; instead, he let one hand fall casually across his knee, close enough that I could feel the light brush of his knuckles now and then.
Everything around us was noisy. I laughed at Will’s over-the-top acting, at Simon’s dry sense of humour, and even smiled at Bridget’s sharper jokes.
More than once, I noticed Grace watching Max and me.
Her expression softened, like she saw something I wasn’t ready to name yet.
I didn’t move away. In fact, I leaned in a little more.
It felt safe somehow. A word I rarely attached to another person.
* * *
“Right,” Will announced all of a sudden, clapping his hands. “Enough of this polite nonsense. We’re playing Truth or Dare.”
Groans and cheers mixed together. Bridget raised an eyebrow. “What are we, fourteen?”
“Yes,” Will said, without any hesitation. “Fourteen and magnificent.”
I glanced at the time on my phone. My alarm for the flight would be bad enough without adding hours of dares. I began to gather my things. “I really should–”
Will cut in and said, “Nope, you can’t leave without at least one round. House rules.”
I laughed. “I’ll humour you. But only one Truth. Then I really have to go and convince myself to get some sleep before dawn.”
“Fine. But you have to draw a card,” Will insisted, pushing the stack towards me.
“All right.” I pulled one out, read it, and immediately felt a bit embarrassed.
What’s your biggest turn-on?
The room went quiet, waiting for my answer.
I played with the card, while mulling it over. People would expect a safe answer like ‘books’ or something generic like ‘confidence’. But maybe it was the late hour or the fact that Max was right next to me that made me braver than usual.
“It’s difficult to choose just one,” I said slowly. “But being pinned against a wall…” I shrugged, lips curling. “That works every time.”
For a beat, silence. Then laughter, cheers, and loud whistles.
But I felt it – Max’s eyes on me, hot and unwavering.
“And on that note, I’ll leave you to your teenage antics. Sorry, everyone, I had a lovely time.”
Grace gave me a hug. Simon blew a dramatic kiss. Max was already half-standing when I turned to him. “I’ll see you in a couple of days,” I told him, while I looked at him a little longer than I intended.
“Yeah,” he said in a low voice.
After combing through a mountain of coats, I finally found mine.
Hearing that the music had been turned up in the living room, I almost wanted to go back in, but I decided against it.
The early flight was going to be brutal enough.
I was about to take the lift down when I realised I had left my scarf somewhere inside.
Toronto in January without a scarf sounded like the worst idea imaginable.
I sighed and headed back. Fortunately the door hadn’t closed behind me yet.
Maybe I could just sneak back in and find it without interrupting the game.
Then I remembered – I’d left it in the living room.