“We were just going to work on the house,” she explains. “Get the floors done. But we can do that another time. Right, Caleb?”
Part of me wants to dig in my heels and make up some excuse why we need to get the work done today. Just so I don’t have to admit defeat to pretty-boy David. But, given the way she’s greeting him like he’s just come home from the war, I can’t exactly be that person.
I’d never been the jealous type before. Now would be a particularly crappy time to start.
“Of course,” I say, trying to keep my tone even and easy. I shrug but it feels like shifting two blocks of plywood. “I’ll um… make myself busy today and maybe come by tomorrow instead.”
“I’m working tomorrow,” Lizzie reminds me, wincing at the mess she’s making of our carefully constructed plans.
I shrug. “I’ll do it alone.”
“You sure?”
Noticing the way David is watching our exchange with more than a little interest, I give a curt nod to bring it to a close.
“You should spend time with your… friend. Find him somewhere to stay.”
Given their level of affection, a horrible suspicion is starting to uncurl in the back of my head.
The only people I know to be so physically easy with one another are those who have seen it all. Ex-lovers. Or maybe… current lovers?
Lizzie and I’d both confirmed we’re unattached after that first night. But that doesn’t mean David’s not a boyfriend she’d left behind when moving to East River. A man she’s no longer technically involved but whom she could pick right up with if she wanted to.
“Again, I don’t want to cause an issue. I remember you saying the hotel was underwater or something, so I have an air mattress and a bunch of blankets in the trunk, just in case.”
“Hotel’s fine,” I cut in.
Lizzie glances at me in surprise.
“Since when?”
“Since Wednesday. It opened back up a few nights ago.” It hadn’t been much of a job once all the carpet had been heaved out. Just a matter of waiting for the boards to dry.
Lizzie laughs softly.
“And you haven’t kicked my boney ass out of your back room because?”
My scowl is so strong, I can feel it crease my brows from inside my own face.
“You’d have wanted me to?” I demand.
Lizzie purses her lips and shrugs. Like it makes no big deal one way or the other. Dammit, for a moment I want to kiss her here and now. In front of David. I want to hold her until she’s moaning in my arms and then shake her until her teeth rattle. The woman is infuriating.
“Besides, a hotel is a moot point,” she finally says, with a wave of her hand. She reaches to settle it on David’s arm.
Oh no… Please don’t—
“You’re staying with me.”
—and there it is.
Swallowing, I stare at the road beneath my feet.
No right. I remind myself. You have no right to tell her who can and cannot stay under her roof. Don’t go there. Don’t be that guy. She’ll stay with you and he’ll be in her place. It’s fine.
It’s fine.
Realizing that my nails are digging painfully into my palms, I decide it’s a good time to leave. I need space away from the two of them so that my mind stops coming up with potential past relationships between them. So far I’d manifested the ideas: first loves who had never truly parted ways; an old boyfriend who had morphed into a bestie; and Lizzie’s most recent lover, here to rekindle what they’d had in New York. And not one of these scenarios puts me at ease.
I need to leave. I need to leave, right now.
“I’ll um…” I have to clear my throat. “I’ll leave you both to it then.”
Given the presence of David, Lizzie doesn’t lean up to kiss me goodbye or even offer a hug. I’m relegated to a soft wave and a look of gratitude. Gratitude for leaving her in the company of another man. I slam shut the cab door.
One she probably had a history with.
Oh yeah, I reiterate, wheel spinning in an effort to get away from the two of them all the faster. Some distance is very definitely necessary.