Page 91 of From Nowhere

Will twists his lips. “I don’t know. You guys are my friends. I don’t remember the last time I thought of anyone as a roommate.”

“Maybe it’s time for you to take a wife and start a family.”

Will chokes on his food, smacking his chest with a fist. “N-no.”

“Jamie’s not looking for another job outside Missoula, because she wants to start planning their wedding and thinking about babies. It made me think about my own life. I mean, did we ever imagine Calvin Fitzgerald getting married and having a family?”

Will shakes his head.

“Exactly,” I say. “But it’s happening. So now I’m starting to think there’s hope for all of us.”

“You’re only saying this because some guy is sticking his dick in you on the regular.”

I’ve had dick adjacent but not dick inside me, but I keep that to myself.

“It’s not about the sex,” I say. “It’s about that life. He’s a parent. And Jamie and Fitz will probably be parents. Don’t you wonder what it would be like to have something in your life that matters more than your job?”

“I like my job,” he says, pouring more steak sauce onto his plate.

“I like my job too. But it doesn’t keep me warm at night. I don’t get to braid its hair.”

He squints. “Braid its hair?”

“I braided Lola’s hair yesterday for her track-and-field day, and she was so excited to have her hair in a braid like her friends. And I had a moment. You know?”

“A moment? Like your uterus started aching, and you had a sudden urge to buy your own place with a tree house in the backyard? Oh, that’s right. Youdiddo that.”

I stick my tongue out. “Stop being so grumpy. It’s time for all of us to grow up. And the tree house is for Bandit, not my unborn children. I’m not saying I want to have my own kids. I’m just saying I got a glimpse of a different kind of life, and I didn’t hate it.”

My phone dings.

Ozzy: Are we using the condoms I bought?

Ozzy: Do we need to have the bc and std convo?

“What’s that look?” Will asks.

I shake my head. “It’s, uh, Ozzy’s asking about ...” I glance at Will. “Can I tell you something?”

A grimace slowly forms on his face. “I feel like I should say no. Nothing good comes after the wordscan I tell you something.”

“I’ve never had sex without using a condom. I mean, I have an IUD, but—”

“No, Maren. Just no. I knew it. Iknewyou were going to overshare some shit that’s only meant for Jamie’s ears.”

“Well, she’s not here.”

“Then you’d better wait until she gets home.” He scoots back in his chair and takes his plate to the sink.

“I don’t think Ozzy wants to use a condom. I think he bought them to be nice or something. I can’t think of the right word.”

“Chivalrous?” Will laughs. “Of course he doesn’t want to use them. But just stop talking.”

“Why do you say it like that? What does ‘of course he doesn’t’ mean?” I lean against the counter and cross my arms.

“Maren, no guy likes wearing a condom.”

“So it’s just about pleasure, not like he’s suggesting we should be in a committed relationship?”

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