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He nods in agreement.
Once we reach our cars and are well outside of Dimitria’s earshot, everyone relaxes.
“I never knew you were such a good liar.” Wesley grins. “Next time you cancel class because you’re feeling sick, I’m going to have to personally verify.”
Avery laughs for the first time today. “People like that like to feel like they’re the savior to the poor. I just played into it so we could be done with all that garbage.”
“I’m impressed.” I smile. “Is that something you learned from your time with your ex?”
The empty mannequin look is back.
“I’m not talking about that right now.”
I hold up my hands in surrender. “I’ll leave it alone for now. Today was more than enough for anyone to deal with. How about we go back to my house and get you to relax a little?”
“I’d like that.”
Then she turns to Wesley and Phillip and asks, “Did you two take the day off too? I hadn’t realized.”
Wesley groans. “I wish I had now. You’ll have to have fun without me.”
“Same here. I agreed to cover one of my colleagues' time on the crisis counseling line.” Phillip shrugs. “It was his kid’s birthday, and I felt bad that he’d miss it.”
“Don’t worry.” I grin. “I’ll take good care of our woman.”
23
AVERY
I’ve always been content with my little master bathroom, but as soon as I step into Jamie’s, I’m seeing green.
Aside from the barbeques that Leo and I’d been invited to, I haven’t spent much time at Jamie’s house. They’ve always come to me to accommodate Leo’s sleep schedule, and on the rare times my parents keep him overnight, we go to Wesley’s house (for obvious reasons).
His bathroom is nearly the size of my bedroom. He’s got a walk-in shower, the clawfoot tub of my dreams, and a fucking sauna.
This is the level of luxury I aspire to but probably won’t ever get.
Well, maybe I could if I hit the lottery.
Jamie comes in holding an obscenely fluffy towel, and as soon as he sees my face he shifts into what I call worry mode.
“Are you uncomfortable? Is the floor too cold? I can turn on the heaters. In the winter they’re on a timer, but it’s been too warm for me?—”
“Do you mean to tell me you have heated floors too? Are you kidding me?”
“Does that bother you?”
“No, I’m just surprised. How did you manage to do all this with the temp jobs and the academy?”
“Well, I am semi-retired. You know that.”
“Most forty-seven-year-olds aren’t. You’ll have to forgive me for forgetting.” I smile. “You must have hit the lottery to manage all this.”
“Or something like that,” he says.
Something in his face tells me there’s a lot more to this than he’s letting on.
Normally, I’d be all over that, but after this morning, I don’t have the energy for it.
