Page 19 of Half-Hearted
The weather was rather pleasant. Just hot enough to make me a little drowsy but still cool enough that I wasn’t sweating. Probably because of the breeze. It was nice. I wished it would stay like this all summer, but there was supposed to be a heat wave next week. I wasn’t looking forward to it.
“Lex?”
“Hmm?” I looked up to find Jane standing in front of my apartment door. She was still in her light blue silk dress from last night, but the skirt was crumpled, and there was a pretty large tequila stain on her hip. Her honey-brown eyes were weighed by the shadows of smudged makeup, her abundance of freckles accompanied by stray flecks of mascara, and her fiery auburn waves were bunched into a hot, frizzy mess of a lopsided bun on top of her head.
How shestillmanaged to look like an absolute smoke show in this state was beyond any and all reason.
“Christ, where the hell have you been? I swear I almost filed a missing… persons…” She trailed off at the weary gaze swimming across my face. “What happened?”
Oh. “I was just at Joel’s.”
She tried to mask the surprise that flashed across her face. She was not successful. “Oh… okay. And?”
“And then I walked. And now I’m here,” I concluded.
Her brows jerked. “You walkedall the way here from Joel’s? Like that?”
I hummed.
“It’s like an hour-long walk. Why didn’t you just take a cab?”
Huh. Whyhadn’tI just taken a cab?
“I’m not really sure,” I told her. “The weather was nice, and it honestly didn’t feel like that long of a walk.” It definitely hadn’t felt like an hour. Fifteen minutes tops.
I maneuvered past her so I could unlock my door, then left it open for her while I dumped all my stuff on the couch.
Coffee. I need to make coffee.
Jane followed me in. “Listen. About last night—”
“It’s fine. I’m over it,” I said, turning on the coffee machine. “I’m gonna take a shower real quick, and then we can order brunch and watch Bridget Jones.” It was our hangover tradition.
I started fluttering about the kitchen, opening windows and cupboards and,Let’s see… we need mugs and teaspoons and honey and milk and maybe some cinnamon and cocoa and—
“Lex.”
“You can take a shower, too, if you want,” I said. “And borrow pj’s. I just washed the Louise Belcher ones, though, so you’ll have to fish them out of the dryer.” They were her favorite. “Do you want sugar or honey in your coffee?” She always alternated.
Jane carefully placed her purse and heels beside the couch, then walked into the kitchen. Why was she looking at me like that?
I nudged my chin at the stain across her hip. “I’ll call concierge and have someone come up to get your dress. They’ve got a 24-hour dry-cleaning service. It’ll be ready by tomorrow.”
She didn’t say anything, just kept walking until she got to where I was standing, then gently pulled me into a warm, comforting hug.
My arms were deadweight at my sides. “What are you doing?”
No answer.
“Jane?”
She leaned her head on my shoulder.
I opened my mouth to tell her that I felt gross and really wanted to take a shower now, but I couldn’t get the words out for some reason. My throat felt almost entirely blocked.
“I love you, and I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Okay, weirdo… I already said I was over it. We were all drunk. It’s fine.” My voice broke.
