Page 7 of Merlot Marriage

“Four hours is plenty long enough to change your relationship status.” Chris shakes his head at us before pointing to a man standing beside one of the fire trucks. “Fire chief said it was contained in the kitchen. They have to assess for smoke damage, but nothing outside of the kitchen was burned.”

As if summoned by Chris’s words, the man makes his way over to the three of us. “Fire Chief Mason. You the other roommate?”

“I am.” I hold my hand out to shake his. His eyebrows dart up at my accent, then furrow in thought. He’s about to ask me where it’s from, guaranteed.

“Are you English?”

And there it is. For as much as Americans like to watch British television, ninety-nine percent of them assume that’s where my accent is from. You’d think between Charlize Theron and Leo’sdecent attempt inBlood Diamond,more people would recognize the accent.

“South Africa—Cape Town, specifically. Any word on the damage?” I cut the twenty-questions game short, impatient to know the worst.

The fire chief takes his baseball cap off and runs a hand through his hair before he answers. “The kitchen sustained the bulk of it, but there is smoke damage throughout. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to stay in the home for the time being. Do you have somewhere else you can stay?” He tips his chin in Ophie’s direction. “Your girlfriend’s house?”

He directs the question to Chris, and I have to restrain myself from growling at him.Mywife takes a hasty step away from Chris and closer to me. “Yeah, I have space.” She looks up at me, her brown eyes full of concern. “Maggie’s all moved out now, so I have a spare room. Chris, do you have somewhere to stay, or do you want to sleep on my couch?”

“Thanks, but I already texted my boyfriend, so I’m good.”

“I won’t be able to let you in to get anything until tomorrow at the earliest, just as a safety precaution.” Chief Mason glances back at his men still buzzing around the parking lot and front door.

I shrug. “I’m pretty sure she’s stolen enough of my hoodies and sweatpants that I’ll be fine for a day or two at her house. Do you need us for anything else, or…?”

Once he verifies he has our contact information, he declares us free to go. I’m sure this is going to be a pain to deal with, but not one I can do anything about tonight. With a final wave to Chris, Ophie and I head over to our cars.

“See you at home, Mrs.—”

Ophie’s hand slapping across my mouth cuts me off before I can finish teasing her.

“Do. Not.” She growls the words, glancing around the empty parking lot.

I wink at her and step back into a small bow. “Ms. Moore. Shall we?” I know she doesn’t want anything to change between us, and even though it breaks my heart a little, I’ll keep pretending that’s true. Starting by not using this unexpected stay at her house to my advantage.

Ophie holds her glare for another moment until she dissolves into giggles. Forcing a laugh, I lean against my car, facing her. “Oph, you know nothing’s changed, right? We’re still friends. It’s just a piece of paper. Insurance in case it takes longer to find a job than anticipated. Fingers crossed, we never have to tell anyone about it.”

The tension releases from her shoulders as they sag, and I pull her in for a hug. “Promise?” Her voice is muffled against my chest but still audible. Or maybe it’s just that I’m so used to hearing it that I could pick it out of a crowd anywhere.

“Promise.” I kiss the top of her head, something I’ve done often in the past. I’ve even done it a hundred times in the last eight weeks, and nothing was different. It’s the most natural thing in the world and yet somehow, in this moment, with my heart still pounding from the shock of coming home to my place being on fire, entirely new.

I’m still puzzling over the change, unable to pin down exactly what’s different, when we pull up at her place and I take the parking spot her sister used to claim. I heard all about Maggie and Kel’s roundabout romance last fall from Ophie. She was rooting for them from the start and treated me to long diatribes on the awkwardness of Kel’s pursuit of her sister.

“You know you can stay as long as you need, right?” She looks back over her shoulder as she lets us into the condo. It’s a small place—just two bedrooms and a single bathroom—but she andher sister have done their best to make it nice. Maggie has a flair for color and decor, and most of it is still here.

The familiar white couch squeaks as Ophie flops onto it, her chunky heels dangling precariously off her feet. “I don’t know if I need a nap or a shower.”

I pull her shoes off and set them beside mine at the front door before dropping into the easy chair, my legs splayed in front of me. “Nap. Definitely a nap first. At least we never have to write another paper again.”

Peering at me from underneath the arm draped over her face, she grimaces. “Don’t remind me. I don’t want to think about my thesis or the problems with the Oceania ports of call ever again. And I’m working the morning shift tomorrow.”

My head thunks back on the edge of the chair as I groan. “I still have ten essays left to grade for Higgs—damn him and his acceptance of late work. Grades are due at midnight tomorrow. Why did I decide to TA for an Economics 101 class?”

Rustling and grunting sound from Ophie’s direction before she replies, “Because the US immigration system is confusing as fuck, and the only job your counselor thought you could have with your visa was as a TA.”

I lift my head to glare at my best friend. She’s rolled over to sprawl facedown on the couch, her dress barely covering her ass as it sticks up in the air because she didn’t bother to remove one of the many cushions that decorate it. “Right. That.” Normally, I would reach over and smack her bum without a second thought, but now I hesitate.

We both swore that getting married wouldn’t change anything between us. But somehow, everything suddenly feels different.

Ophie

I give up tryingto shower quietly when I drop my shampoo bottle for the third time in a row. If the clatter didn’t wake Philip up the first or second time, then either he can sleep through the noise or he’s awake anyway.

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