Page 45 of Graves

“New Jersey,” I say, raising my hands to stop her. “Before you say anything—pets weren’t allowed, so it’s off the table anyway.”

“You are not moving to New Jersey,” she hisses, glaring. “If anything, you come back to Brooklyn. It’s bad enough I have to come to this island once a week to see you.”

I shrug and wave the waiter over with my empty glass. “I’m just looking around. Testing the waters. Besides, I don’t want to be a dog walker forever. I’m a dentist.”

How and under what circumstances I’ll go back to practicing, I still don’t know. But I always loved being a dentist, so quitting was never an option.

“Koh, there’s no shame in asking for help. Your father could easily get you an apartment.”

“I just don’t want to rush anything.”

Nahla purses her lips, fighting a grin. “You like your new roommate more than you’re willing to admit.”

“Nonsense! He’s a disaster! Leaves dishes everywhere, eats my food, he’s moody, and he hates dogs.”

“And how does he kiss?”

Oh fuck… way too well.

“Can we please change the subject? I think that was more than enough about me.”

The evening with Nahla is fun, and by the end, I’m so drunk I can barely walk straight. Luke asking about me unsettles me more than I want to admit. For a year, I’ve tried to bury him in the darkest corner of my memory, but it never works.

Luke cursed me, and the spell is still active. By trying to appear flawless and hide my broken insides, I secretly hope to escape it. But all it takes is his name, and I spiral.

Of course, I don’t have a drinking problem, even if I do get wasted three or four times a month. Unlike usual, Nahla doesn’t just put me in a cab tonight. She climbs in with me.

“What are you doing?” I slur as she sits beside me.

“I’m taking you home. What do you think?”

“You’re hoping he’s there.”

“Yep,” she admits shamelessly, equally drunk. “I’m not missing this chance.”

“You don’t even like white guys.”

“I don’t know what it is about him. Maybe because he’s a musician. I have a thing for musicians. Just looking at him does something to me.”

To me too, I think, staring out the window.

Every time we’ve crossed paths this week, I’ve felt it—just like now. The memory of the kiss sends heat through me—and how fucking long it’s been since anyone kissed me like that.

No… No one has ever kissed me the way Aran Graves did.

Why not?

He said himself it was just for fun.

Have I ever had that kind of fun?

With Luke, it was different. We met in dental school. It was a slow, cautious getting-to-know-each-other.

Nothing like Aran.

Maybe Nahla’s right. Maybe it’s time I allowed myself some fun. But how?

“What’s going on here?” Nahla asks, startled.