Page 26 of The History in Us

“And I know him from a long time ago.”

Sidonia leaned her hip against the counter, waving her hand in a circular motion.

“And we might have kissed then.”

Sidonia stopped motioning.

“And we might have kissed recently.”

Sidonia clapped, lifting her clasped hands up under her chin.

“But he isn’t talking to me now.”

Silence ensued for a beat.

“But…” my boss sang out. My eyes shot to hers.

“End of story.”

“Not end of story.” Sidonia took the knife implement out of my hands, suddenly concerned with the way I flicked the lever back and forth. “You need to move him from the head to between your legs.”

“Sidonia,” I shrieked with laughter.

“Sounds like he might already be knocking at your heart?” She wiggled her eyebrows to tease me.

Heart. Mine raced whenever I thought of Levi, the touch of his lips. The feel of his hands on my neck, the press of his body against mine. My heart galloped inside my chest.

“Oh, and he’s assigned to be my research partner.” My hands came to the edge of the counter and I shook my head. I’d tried to get out of the class since Levi didn’t want to do the project. I didn’t need the class but Anne thought it would be good for me. She refused to let me withdraw.

“This sounds perfect. Forced to be together. Forced to speak to one another. The universe works in mysterious ways, Katie Kat.”

I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t certain I always believed that, although I wanted the universe to do me a favor. In my heart, I wanted to believe Levi Walker had returned to me.

“Think of it. The universe obviously brought him here to you.” I stared at her, questioning the thought. Suddenly, I motioned forward for the box-cutter. “Put me to work, so I don’t have to think about the world-at-large or things bigger than me.” Or the small town I came from where I kissed a boy who doesn’t want to remember me.

* * *

“Ladies’ Night Out,” Penelope shouted as I entered our apartment on Thursday evening. A whoop after the shout out told me she’d started Ladies’ Night while she was stillin. Tuck walked into the living room wearing kick ass red heels, a short leather skirt and a loose, sheer, white shirt.

“Holy crap, you look amazing.” I blinked like a star-struck fan as Tuck glowed like a movie star. Her bright red lips matched her shoes and her appearance gave new meaning to head-to-toe hot. She smiled slowly.

“Thank you, darlin’. Now why aren’t you dressed? It’s ten-dime Thursday at Cub-Que until seven.”

“I can’t go,” I laughed, a little bitter at my commitment to Nate, a little relieved as there was no way I could stand next to Tuck without feeling like I should be part of the floorboards. She stopped fidgeting with her blonde locks for a moment and stared at me.

“What do you mean you can’t go?”

“I have a tutoring session at seven.”

“It’s Thursday,” Penelope yelped as she came into the living room. Dressed in a tight skirt, similar but not the same as Tuck’s, her appearance matched the general attire of our roommate. They could have passed as twins, minus Penelope’s acorn hair. I blinked at my oldest friend, wondering what the fourth day of the work week had to do with anything. “It’s Friday Eve,” she giggled, hinting she’d started the weekend a tad early.I guess she won’t be taking any temp jobs tomorrow. I laughed, only slightly jealous of the carefree nature of my best friend. I wish I were that loose, but I also needed to get going to make it to the library by seven. I had my own writing piece to work on before I met Nate, and clearly my apartment wasn’t a place for concentration.

“Sugar, you need to go out sometime. We need to hang.” My newest roommate was right. Between her work schedule and my studies, we hardly interacted with one another. She’d just moved in when she was called out of town to a training session in Michigan. Upon her return, she’d been heavily following reports on some minor-league baseball players, scouting out potential clients to bring up to the big leagues. Playing season was over for most teams, which meant buying season was about to begin.

“I will. Next time.” I smiled shyly as Penelope came up to wrap her arms around me, kissing me on the cheek before stepping away from me.