Page 182 of Safe With You

The answer came too quickly. “No.”

He laughed. “Damn.”

“You’ll survive.”

“I don’t know. That felt personal.”

“You asked.”

“And that was definitely a lie.”

I reached for another fry. “Prove it.”

His laugh came out louder this time, and I smiled before taking a bite.

That was what I kept noticing about being around Ellis. It was how little work any of this required. I didn’t have to search for something to say, and when there was nothing to say, the silence didn’t make me nervous.

When I reached for another fry, he let me take it without reminding me I said I wasn’t hungry.

By the time he finished eating, I’d probably had half of them.

He looked at the empty basket.

“You owe me fries.”

“Put it on my tab.”

“That’s my line.”

“I adapted it.”

“You’re getting too comfortable with that.”

Maybe I was.

The thought came without warning, and for once, it didn’t make me want to argue with myself.

Ellis wiped his hands on a napkin and looked toward the window.

“You ready?”

I should be.

It was getting late enough that tomorrow morning was going to come faster than I wanted it to, and I still had laundry sitting in the same basket I abandoned before leaving home.

Still, disappointment settled somewhere beneath my ribs.

I pushed it away before I could examine it too closely.

“Yeah.”

Outside, the air was cooler than it was when I arrived.

I folded my arms as we started down the sidewalk toward where we parked.

“My car is the other way,” I told him.

“I know.”