Page 27 of Two Friends in Marriage
“You have separate bedrooms?”Ash says.“That’s smart.I wish we could do that.Jer sends his regrets, by the way, but he couldn’t get out of work.”
“The extra closet space would certainly be nice.”Lana sighs.
I swear Georgie gives me an odd look because of the bedroom situation.However, I’m saved when the oven timer goes off and I have to head downstairs, leaving Evan to finish the tour.
We gather in the living room, the food on the coffee table.There isn’t a ton of seating, so I sit on the floor in front of Evan and reach for a brie bite.It’s very good, if I do say so myself, though it’s hard to screw up something that’s centered around warm cheese.The wine is good, too.It’s the first time I’ve had a drink since the wedding.
“I still can’t get over the fact that you two aretogether,” Ash says.
I stiffen a little, but I don’t think anyone notices.Except Evan, who rubs my shoulder.
“You were at our wedding,” he points out to Ash.
“Iknow.Speaking of which, do you have your pictures yet?”
“No,” I say, “but I think we’re supposed to get them next week.”
“I can’t wait to see them.”
I focus on the charcuterie plate, trying to decide which cheese looks best.
“I’m curious about chores,” Lana says.
“Chores?”Ash rolls his eyes and takes a glug of wine.“Why are you curious about that?”
“Who does what?”
“Jane does the yardwork and the majority of the cooking,” Evan says.“I do the laundry and most of the cleaning.”
At least, I think that’s what he says, but he’s continuing the rub my shoulders, and he hits the perfect point that nearly makes me moan.Is he doing this to convince everyone that we’re a real couple?
I don’t like the idea, for some reason.I hope he’s doing it because he wants to, and I try not to think about my recent conversation with Claudia.
Our friends insist on taking an Uber to the subway rather than depending on Evan for another ride.(He rarely drinks and didn’t have any alcohol tonight, so he’d be perfectly capable of driving.) They hug us and stumble out into the night, in various states of inebriation, and we finish cleaning up.I pop the final piece of prosciutto into my mouth, followed by a grape, before I put the remaining food in a large glass container.Evan, meanwhile, loads up the dishwasher.
We work in silence for a couple of minutes before he says, “I think that went well.”
“Me, too.”
“It’s nice to have a big enough place to properly entertain.I always wanted that.”
I’m about to put the container in the fridge when I realize there’s a single cube of the best cheese left.I have no idea what kind of cheese it is, but it’s really good and lightly smoky.Before I know what I’m doing, I walk over to Evan, who’s cleaning the muffin tin.His hands are in soapy water, so I can’t actually hand him the cheese.Oh well.I stand on my toes and hold it to his lips.I’m just being practical, right?He hesitates for a split second before pulling the piece of cheese into his mouth, his lower lip brushing my fingers.
“Mm.That’s delicious,” he says.“I didn’t have any earlier.I guess I was too busy inhaling your brie bites.”He knocks his hip against mine.
Perhaps it’s the wine—I had two generous glasses—but I feel an unusual amount of pleasure at his compliment.At the smile aimed in my direction.
A little flustered, I take out the broom and give the kitchen floor a good sweep.
Chapter 10
Evan
TheMondayafterourwine and cheese gathering, I set our morning coffee on the kitchen table.It’s raining, unfortunately, so we can’t sit outside.
When Jane comes downstairs, she says, “Did you check your email?We got the link to the gallery for our wedding pictures.”
I sit next to her and take a sip from my mug—the one with the rainbow umbrella seemed appropriate today—before picking up my phone.I navigate to the gallery and enter the password that was provided.
