“Who the hell is Mr. Duncan, and is he letting you crash at his place rent free?”
“Fine. Have one. But that’s it. Mr. Duncan lives in 4B. He’s got that cute little four-year-old daughter who always wears a backward baseball cap and braids.”
My sister’s face scrunched up. “Do I live in the same building as you?”
I laughed. “Don’t you know anyone?”
“This is New York. We don’t make friends with our neighbors. We put our AirPods in and avoid eye contact at all costs when we pass other humans in the hallway.”
“Well, not me. I met him on the elevator a few times. He’s a single dad. He owns the cell phone repair shop a few doors down. Anyway, tomorrow is his daughter’s birthday. She wants to bring cupcakes to nursery school. He said he was a horrible baker, so I traded him two dozen for a screen repair.”
“You broke your phone, too?”
“No, I use a case, so that doesn’t happen. Unlike you. The repair is for you, silly. He said it will take about ten minutes. Just pop in and tell him you’re my sister.”
“Oh, awesome. Thank you.” She sighed and slouched. “I wish I had your energy. I started a new batch of hormones to get ready for the next round of IVF, and they’re sucking the life out of me.”
I frowned. “Sorry.”
Greer waved me off. “Not your fault. Hey—what do you call men with a low sperm count?”
“I don’t know, what?”
“Incum Inequality.”
I laughed. “I hope you didn’t share that with your sweet husband.”
She shoved the rest of the cupcake in her mouth. “Of course I did. And since we’re on the subject of sperm, how was your date last night? That Will was hot, too. Is every guy gorgeous where you work?”
“I told you, it wasn’t a date.”
“He picked you up and broke your zipper. What do I call it, a hookup?”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t like that at all. The zipper was stuck, and I asked him to try to wiggle it down, but it tore away from the dress. We just went to a work function together. I’m new, so the boss asked him to ride with me so he could introduce me around when we arrived. He disappeared an hour after we got there with some woman who’d been making googly eyes at him since the minute we walked in. Plus, he’s not my type.”
“Oh…” She nodded. “So he’s faithful and not a douche?”
“Let’s not remind me about Christian. I actually haven’t given him much thought lately.”
“Well, that’s good. Maybe it’s time you move on, then. You know, put yourself out there.”
My mind instantly went to Merrick last night. I’d found his eyes focused on my lips more than once. “Let me ask you something. When a guy’s eyes linger on your lips, does it always mean he’s thinking about kissing you?”
“Definitely not.”
I frowned. “Oh.”
“Did you have lipstick on?”
“Yeah.”
“Might some have been on your teeth?”
“No, I don’t think so. I looked in the mirror after I applied it.”
She pointed to her teeth. “Did you eat spinach?”
I shook my head.
“Is he deaf?”
I chuckled. “No.”