Page 44 of The Weight Of It All
He grinned at it. “Well, I think it was supposed to be two, but I’ll settle for one.”
“Oh please.” I scoffed. “You owe me coffee and that lamb and sweet potato salad. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”
“Yeah, right,” Reed said softly. And he was quiet after that. Only when I pulled the car into his allocated parking spot, he swallowed hard. “Did you want to come inside?” He licked his lips nervously. “I can make you that coffee, and we can share this.”
I wasn’t sure what he was asking. Inviting someone in for coffee was an old cliché for sex?well, it used to be, the last time I played the whole dating game, but surely Reed was just being polite. I did mention that he owed me a coffee, so maybe I made him feel guilty. “Um,” I started, unsure of what he really meant, therefore unsure of how to answer.
“You don’t have to, of course. I just…” He bit his lip and shrugged.
The thing was, I would otherwise go home to an empty house. And I’d had a great day with him. I truly enjoyed his company, and for some absurd reason, he seemed to enjoy mine. Did I want to spend more time with him? “Sure,” I finally answered. “I’d love to.”
Eight
Reed’s apartmentwas kind of small, but I guessed that was a given for a one-bedroom unit. It was spotlessly clean, with polished pine floorboards, white walls, and a newish kitchen. He had a peacock-blue sofa that matched an abstract print on the wall, a large flat screen TV, and a coffee table. His place smelled like him, and he was clearly very comfortable in his own space. He dumped his shopping bag on his small dining table, then added his keys and wallet. He took the citrus tart from me. “Take a seat.”
He walked into the kitchen, which was just off the living and dining area, and called out to me. “You can turn the telly on. Bathroom’s down the hall on your left, if you need.”
“Thanks.” I went over to the sofa and fell into it. It was as comfy as it looked.
I could hear beeping of some kind, which I assumed was a coffee machine, when Reed came out holding two small pods. “Strong or mild coffee?”
“Strong, please.”
He disappeared again and I had a brief moment of “what the hell am I doing?” when I noticed a book on his coffeetable. It wasThe Two Towerswith a takeaway menu slotted in as a bookmark.
I’d given Reed the first Lord of the Rings book the other weekend, and now he was almost finished with the second? That made me happier than it probably should’ve, and it kind of eased my doubts of why I was there. As strange as it was, thiswasthe reason I was there. I gave him one book, and he read three more. He pushed me in the gym, getting more from me than I thought possible, and I still had more to offer. He gave me some lemon butter, and two citrus tarts later, I was in his living room for coffee.
We got on well. But more than that, we were productive together, and I really liked that.
“I blame you for that,” he said, coming up behind me with two coffee cups in his hands and nodding to the book in my hand. He put them on the coffee table and turned to walk back into the kitchen. “I read the first one you gave me, then had to buy the others.” He came back with two small plates this time and handed one to me. It was a triangle of the citrus tart and a spoon. “They’re pretty good.” He sat on the sofa with me and delicately cut into the dessert with his spoon and tasted it. And he groaned that guttural sound, low and filthy and pure sex, and I was pretty sure I’d do anything to hear it again. “Oh man, that is really good.”
I shoved a spoonful into my mouth to distract me from where my thoughts had taken me, and I had to admit, the citrus tart was pretty good. “No wonder everyone at work liked it.” I explained how everyone who had tried my morning tea then spoke to me.
“And it’s really the first time you’ve spoken to anyone you work with in all the time you’ve been there?”
“I speak to them,” I admitted. “About work related matters. Never anything personal, and never more than a hello in the hallway. But anyway, this new Monday morning tea isbecoming quite the thing. Everyone’s getting in on it. Last week, Rebecca from Insurance brought in a pear and raspberry bread. And Bayram from Corporate brought in homemade baklava. There was a mix up about whose turn it was, not that anyone minded because we had two morning teas. Anyway, it was all to die for. I only had a tiny bit of each, but it’s been nice. Actually speaking to the people I work with about non-work related things.”
“I find it a bit weird that you don’t talk to them,” he said, now sipping his coffee. “I thought you’d be friends with all of them.”
“Friends with Melinda, yes. I adore her. Even though I’m technically her boss, she has no qualms in telling me to shut up or to pull my head in.”
“Pretty sure I’d like her.”
I nodded. “I’m sure you would.”
He finished the last of his tart and slid his plate onto the coffee table. He sipped his coffee again. He was so relaxed and natural. I envied how comfortable he was in his own skin. “I love the people I work with,” he said. “We all know each other’s stories, their friends and families. Admittedly, there’s only five of us full-time, not like the fifty or so that I guess work in your department. But even the part-timers and casual staff at the gym are all good people. I do get on with Emily the best, though, and Lachie. They’d be my closest friends.”
I’d seen both Emily and Lachie around the gym all the time. They were always helpful and polite. I could see why he liked them. “They seem like nice people.”
“We’re doing an instructor challenge this weekend,” he said, his face lighting up. “On Saturday afternoon. You should come and watch.”
“What exactly is an instructor challenge?”
“All the trainers are set a routine, and whoever finishes first, wins. Sometimes it’ll be whoever does morereps in a set time frame wins. We don’t know what the challenge is going to be until we get there.”
I stared at him. “You mean, exercise for fun?”
Reed laughed. “It is fun! You should come watch. I’m gonna win this time.”
