Page 28 of Caleb
We slept together once, as we agreed on that day. Besides, a few weeks later, she told me she had patched things up withthe bastard. I was both thankful and irritated about it. Getting back together with him and becoming unavailable again was certainly convenient for me.
I remember regretting the encounter with Annette the next day, mostly because I didn’t want it to becomea thing. I didn’t want to get furtherly involved with her. It was nothing more than a one-night stand. And it would’ve probably been hard for me to stop if she were eager to continue because the sex was great. But the risk was even greater.
As confident as Annette is, she seemed beyond mortified when she told me about how she’d forgiven her ex. I could sense she was afraid of being judged and insisted that it was all a misunderstanding, trying to justify the bastard’s actions. But she didn’t tell me much, and I didn’t care to know either. I guess she was trying to feel better about her decision to take him back. And I hope, for her sake, that she’s right about the guy. I meant it when I told her she didn’t deserve to get cheated on.
I respect her.
I’m impressed that our interactions haven’t felt awkward after that day. Strangely enough, we’ve slowly eased into an unexpected friendship. And Aaron’s fine with that, or so it seems. He hasn’t made a single comment about it, and he’s seen us chatting in the lounge more than a few times, like right now.
Annette is having her morning coffee and croissant, so we exchange a few words while I hydrate for a morning run with Miss Murphy. We usually run together three days a week, and we’ve been slowly adding a few more minutes to our runs, which means her condition is gradually improving. The other four days, I go out on my own.
Aaron says goodbye to Annette, drains his coffee, and jerks his head toward the door. It’s time to go.
“I’ll see you around,fille,” I say to Annette with a smile before leaving.
“Au revoir,garçon,” she says with a wink.
Aaron and I make it downstairs to the parking lot and are on standby while waiting for Miss Murphy to come out. “Annette really has a soft spot for you,garçon,” he teases, perfectly pronouncing the word. He chuckles under his breath and crosses his arms at his chest.
“Shut up.” I try my best not to yield a smile because it’s true. I know Annette likes me and treats me differently from the rest of the staff.
“Just tell me you’re not fucking around,” he says, all jokes aside and his tone businesslike.
I slow-blink at him as a reply, and he laughs as if relieved with my answer. And it’s the truth. Wefucked, but that wasn’t the question. We arenotfucking around.
“Good.” He frowns, his attention drifting toward the Residence’s front door. Miss Murphy’s sauntering down the steps toward us. She looks happy, and I think I know the reason behind that smile. I press my lips firmly together to keep myself from smiling back at her.
“Hey guys.” She beams. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Miss Murphy,” Aaron and I say in unison.
“I hope it doesn’t rain,” she says, looking up. There are a few dark, suspicious clouds, but I’m sure we can make it back before it starts raining—if it ever does. This time of the year is tricky weather-wise, or so I’m learning.
“At least Aaron’s got a real excuse not to join us today,” I quip, patting his back as we start walking away toward the gate. Miss Murphy chuckles but clears her throat afterward. Her relationship with Aaron is too uptight for my liking. But that’s how Aaron likes it, and I honestly can’t make myself care.
Aaron waits until we’re far enough and talks through the earpiece, “Follow the usual route. Over.”
“Roger that. Over.”
“Oh … and fuck you. Out.” He cuts the transmission, making me laugh.
I’m tempted to turn around and flip him off, but I just shake my head instead.
“Is he upset about the knee joke?”
“What do you think?” I look at her and lift a brow.
“He’s too uptight.” She grins. “He needs to relax.”
“Thank you!” I exclaim, throwing my hands up. “He was laughing, though. He enjoys the back and forth, but yeah, I get what you’re saying, and I couldn’t agree more.”
We’re walking a few blocks to warm up as we always do, and we usually do it in silence, but I can’t help but want to point out how happy she looks.
“You had a good time last night with those girls, didn’t you?” Two girls from her new classroom invited her for dinner. Sophie and Cecile. They’re both French and seem like nice girls.
“Oh, my God. I did!” she replies excitedly. It makes me smile. “They were so nice, and I swear it’s the first time I felt like I clicked with someone from school, you know what I mean?”
“I know exactly what you mean.” Weirdly enough, that happened to me when I mether. Something clicked. And I know it clicked for her too. But that was before I was forced to disconnect from the feeling. “I’m glad you’re making new friends, Miss Murphy.”
