Page 52 of Indescribable
“And we’re back to where we need to be, yeah?”
“Definitely.”
We stay like that for a few more minutes, me holding her while she curls up on my lap. I’m not sure who needs it more, her or me, but I’m letting her closeness bring me the calm I need.
“I’m glad to have you back in my life, Brock,” she whispers, her head resting against my heart.
I give her a squeeze. “Me, too.”
She sits up and gives me the most beautiful smile then slides off my lap and stands up.
“There was something said about your mom’s Italian sausage pasta?”
“Time to eat.”
“Past time, I’d say.”
We move to the kitchen together, fill up our pasta bowls, and go back to the living room so we can watch an episode ofOzarkwhile eating.
“You didn’t cheat on me, did you?” I ask her.
“Of course not. I was too busy getting pampered, anyway.”
“Good girl.”
She grins and I watch as she eats a large bite of pasta, sauce getting on the corner of her mouth. I want to lean over and kiss it off her face. I’m pretty sure that’s not what friends do, though.
“Like the pasta?”
“Almost as good as your mom makes. Not quite, but almost,” she teases.
“I see how it is.”
“Listen. There’s very little on earth as good as Mama Leah’s cooking. You can’t deny it.”
“That might be true, but she’d be heartbroken to hear you say I couldn’t replicate the dish she taught me.”
Naomi rolls her eyes. “She would not. She’d just come over and make you keep trying until you can get it right.”
“So true.”
When we’re finished eating and the episode is done, I turn off the TV so we can talk.
“About the fight,” I prompt, her eyes going wide and her mouth dropping open just slightly. She’s not one to dive head first into confrontation so even though she came to talk, I have a feeling she would have been fine just forgetting about it all together. “I’m not sorry, I’m just putting that out there now. He said some nasty things about Cody and the family and it wasn’t the first time he’s confronted me since you signed the papers. He was asking where you were and the last time we had words, he asked why my pickup was at your place – which he still claims is his as well – which tells me he’s basically been stalking your home. I was fine leaving him be at The Pub but he came over and asked if I was there to wreck another home.”
“What did he say about Cody?” she asks, a mixture of concern and anger in her tone. The fact that’s the only thing she cares about – not the fact that he’s been watching her house – says more about her than I’m sure she realizes.
“It’s not worth repeating.”
“Then it was bad.”
“It wasn’t at all kind, I’ll put it that way. It’s a trigger for all of us, but I’m sure he knew that. He was goading me, I took the bait. I don’t regret it, though. I won’t be in trouble. Everyone at the bar, including the girl he was with, knew it was him who started the fight even if I was the one who threw the first punch.”
She shifts on the couch and shakes her head, her lips pinching tight together. “I don’t like this.”
My stomach sinks. I knew she’d hear about the fight so it’s not like I was going to hide it from her, but I definitely didn’t want her thinking badly of me for it. “What don’t you like?”
“That he’s causing problems for you.”