Page 47 of Nice Guys Don't Kiss Like That At Christmas
“You slept with him!”Claire’s voice is a triumphant whisper before I even say hello.
“How did you…?Never mind.”I press my forehead against the cool tile wall.“It wasn’t the plan.”
“Plans are for people who don’t know what good sex is,” she says breezily.“So.Was it?”
I hesitate.“Yeah.It was.”
“Good.”
There’s a pause.One of those Claire pauses that means she’s winding up.
“Okay… so what happens now?”
“Nothing.”
“No morning sex?”
“He’s leaving.Like going, going, gone… he sold his house and everything.”
“Where is he going?”
“What?”
“Adam.Did you ask where he’s going?”
“No.”I blink.“We didn’t talk about that.”
Claire sighs.“Evie.”
“He’s leaving.I’m going back to Chicago.We both knew it was one night.”
“Did he say that?”she asks, voice quieter now.“Because you keep saying it like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
I don’t respond right away.
“Why are you so hell-bent on going back?”she asks gently.
“I have to.The trauma coordinator job opens in January.If I’m not there, Chuck will—”
“Yeah, I know the script,” she interrupts, but not unkindly.“I’ve heard the speech.But that’s not what I asked.”
I sit down on the edge of the tub, the cool porcelain grounding me as LoverBoy scratches at the door.I crack it open and let him in.He immediately curls into my lap.
“I know,” I murmur, stroking his tiny back.
“Look,” Claire sighs.“Real talk?I get why you could write a thesis on making sure people don’t think you’re a burden,” she says.“But Evie, at some point you have to stop letting cancer and Chuck decide what happens next.”
I flinch slightly at the directness.No-sleep Claire doesn’t mince words.
“You kept us all out most of the time and called it strength,” she continues, softer now.“But when you did break down, we were there.We’ve always been there.”
“I know.But I thought if I needed someone, it meant I was weak.”
Claire waits a beat.
And then, so gently I almost miss it, she says, her voice not a murmur or a whisper, but something steady and sure.“You do realize we love you, right?”
I go still.
