Page 12 of All Our Almosts

I cut her off. “I’m not going to start dating someone else right now. Even if I wanted to, I just moved into my friend’s apartment. I don’t want to be bringing dates around all the time when it’s not even my place.”

“You really think she would mind?”

“It’s a he, and I don’t know.”

“Ohhhhh,” she says, dragging out the syllable like she’s realized something.

“Oh, what?”

She places an index finger over her mouth, then points it my way. “This friend. You’re into him.”

“I’m not!” I immediately yell, then remember where we are and bring my voice down a hundred notches. “I’m not.”

“He’s into you, then?”

“He’s not.”

“He could be,” she insists. “A pretty girl just moved into his apartment. Maybe he’s super into you and just waiting to make his move.”

I shake my head, because it could not be more obvious that Mari doesn’t know Andy at all. “It’s definitely not that.”

“How do you know it’s ‘definitely not that’?”

“Because we’ve talked about it!”

The moment it comes out of my mouth, I know I’ve said too much again—definitely too much for a work environment and definitely too much for my friendship with Mari.

“Wait, really?” she asks. “You asked him if he’s into you?”

“I mean, well, it wasn’t recent or anything. But yeah, in the past I’ve asked him if he wanted to… whatever… and he turned me down. But it was a long time ago and we’re just friends now.”

She gives me a scorching side-eye. “If he’s not into you like that, then why would he be uncomfortable with you dating?”

At this point, my head falls into my hands and I let out an extremely unladylike, “Ughhhhhh, I don’t know! I’m not awake enough yet for this conversation. Can we get back to actual work things please?”

Mari laughs it off—and that really is what I love about her. Then she stands and grabs her chair by the back as she says, “Actually yeah, I have to get ready for my 9:30. But you know you can come to me if you ever need anything, right?”

“Of course. Thanks.” I force myself to smile—and again, I don’t know why I’m so emotionally stunted that I can’t accept friends’ sympathy like a normal person. “Go to your meeting, I’ll talk to you soon.”

As soon as she’s out of sight, I pull out my phone.

Me: Any chance you want to kill me before Friday?

Andy replies immediately.

Andy: Zero chance.

Me: Mmmm…I’m pretty sure you still owe me a favor for coming to Owen’s bday thing with you

Andy: And here I thought letting you live in my apartment rent-free was a favor. Guess not.

Me: *pouty emoji*

Andy: Murder is not an eligible favor.

Me: *double crying emojis*

Andy: Alright, why do you want me to kill you?