Mia’s expression went somber. “Understandable, after what you went through with your dad.”
“I know. But I’ve been friends with him for a long time, and he’s been a firefighter for most of it. If something major happened in town and it was plastered on the news, then yeah—Graham would cross my mind. But not otherwise. That day it felt…different.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve been asking myself the same thing. Before he and I were roommates, I think it was just an out-of-sight, out-of-mind sort of thing. But it feels different now, being around him so much more where I’m constantly reminded of what he does. I hear stories about the calls he responds to and I see him walk out the door in that navy uniform and find myself wondering if he’ll walk back through it at the end of his shift.”
Mia nodded slowly, her eyes soft. “That would be hard, even for someone who’s just a friend.” She emphasized the word friend. “Have you…been feeling more toward him lately?”
Claire’s phone buzzed on the table, and Graham’s name appeared.
“Speak of the devil,” Claire muttered, swiping across to see what he wanted.
Graham: What’s your email address?
Claire: Why?
Graham: I’m ordering a new body carrier for Gertrude and get a discount if I invite a friend to their website.
Claire: No
Graham: Come on, please? It’ll save me like thirty bucks.
Claire: I don’t even have a dog.
Graham: Don’t you have an email you never use for shit like this?
Graham: Trade—I won’t touch the thermostat for a week.
Claire: Fine. [email protected].
Graham: You fucking with me?
Claire: I WAS TWELVE
Graham: Apologies, Ms. Sparkles. Thanks
Claire rolled her eyes and dropped her phone to the table. Mia wore an amused expression on her face.
“Sorry about that. And to answer your question, no. That’s what’s weird. I’m not interested in dating him. You and I both know he’s allergic to commitment, and I want to find the person I can settle down and build a life with. But when I got home after that shift, I was out of my head with worry, and the second I saw him and realized he was all right, something in me shifted. I just did it without thinking.”
“That doesn’t have to mean anything, though,” Mia said. “I mean, I’d probably kiss you if I thought you were in serious danger and then saw you in person, safe and whole.”
Claire appreciated Mia’s attempt to downplay the situation, because that’s what she wanted. But it wasn’t the same. “But would you lift me on the furniture and put your tongue in my mouth?”
“Shit, no.” Mia winced. “No offense.”
“None taken.”
Mia leaned in with wide eyes. “He lifted you onto the furniture? Where?”
“His dresser.” Claire dropped her forehead into her palm. “It was so hot, Mia. The best kiss I’ve ever had. He’s, um, very thorough.”
Her friend’s eyebrows shot up and she offered an appreciative nod. “Well, all right then.”
“But that’s weird, right? He’s my friend and I don’t want to be in a relationship with him. We’re roommates, we fight all the time, and we want completely different things out of life.”
“You don’t have to want to be in a relationship with him to want to hook up,” Mia pointed out. “And the fighting might be like…kindling.”
Claire couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s what he said.”
“It could be fun.”
Claire’s eyebrows went up. “You’re encouraging me to kiss Graham? To keep kissing Graham?”
“Why not?”
“I thought I just explained that pretty well.”
“I don’t know.” Mia picked up her fork. “Noah and I think—”
“Noah and you? You two have talked about us?”
Mia snorted. “Of course.”
“The hell?”
“What? You two together are, like, the embodiment of foreplay.”
Claire scrunched her nose. “Ew.”
Mia rolled her eyes. “Not for us. I mean you two always put off this vibe like…you don’t like each other but at the same time you want to rip each other’s clothes off.”
Claire stilled. Blinked.
Was that true?
Things had gone from zero to sixty pretty damn fast in his room that day. She could see herself getting carried away with him.