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A curtain in Nikole’s front window moved, and a figure walked away.
Had she caught all that? Was she watching us? I smiled, knowing that she cared enough to know if I was coming in or not. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Sarah opened the front door and a blanket of warm air engulfed me as soon as I walked in. It felt like an embrace. Nikole’s blank face and turned back weren’t as welcoming, but I promised Sarah to give it a chance.
“Thank you for having me for dinner,” I said, taking off my coat and hanging it on the rack at the entrance.
Nikole looked at Sarah, and I knew she had given in to my sister just as resistantly as I had. My lips twitched into a semblance of a smile and while Nikole’s mouth stayed firm, her eyes shined a bit brighter. “Well, since your sister made dinner, I felt it was her place to invite whomever she liked.”
“Sit, sit.” Sarah pushed me towards the table and I took the first seat closest to me at the end. Sarah sat opposite me and when Nikole went to sit beside her, she stopped her. “Can you sit next to Jake?”
Nikole stared at my sister, with a wry look on her face.
“I’m left-handed,” Sarah explained, and I don’t want to bump elbows.”
I narrowed my eyes on her. While she was left-handed, my sister never had a problem sitting next to someone who was right-handed before. What was she up to?
“No problem,” Nikole said, and I pulled the seat next to me back for her.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“You’re welcome.”
“See!” Sarah clasped her hands under her chin. “Look how quaint this is.”
I cleared my throat and Nikole folded her arms next to me. Sarah’s smile didn’t falter. She grabbed the utensils on the table and then cut into the lasagna.
9
Jake
I scraped the edge of my fork across the white porcelain plate now covered in red tomato sauce, to gather the last bite of lasagna. It was my second piece, and it was just as good as the first one.
Nikole’s eyes narrowed as she looked from my face to my plate. “What?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
I shrugged and licked my fork.
“It’s just that I don’t get how you stay fit eating the way you do.”
“What’s wrong with the way I eat?”
She blinked several times, as though I’d spoken a foreign language. “Nothing. It just seems unfair, that’s all. I just look at a second slice and my hips grow larger.”
I shrugged again. “There’s nothing wrong with your hips, so go for it.”
She snorted and then tilted her head. “You’re serious?”
I dropped my gaze to her hips but the oak table hid them. The curve of her breast caught my attention, but I looked away and pushed back from the table. “I should get back outside.”
“Why rush out?” asked Sarah. “There’s no better way to protect Nik than sitting next to her, is there?”
Nikole’s face scrunched up and while I should have been offended by her cringing, the way she wrinkled her nose was endearing. “I don’t think Nikole feels that way.”
She cleared her throat. “It’s fine. It’s getting cold out there.”
“See,” Sarah beamed, but the acquiescence was hardly convincing. It didn’t matter, though. They were both right. I could protect Nikole inside her home and stay warm at the same time. I brought my dish to the sink and began rinsing it.
