“Yeah?” she asked between bites. She wiped her mouth with a napkin and looked up at him.
“Are you and Brad exclusively dating?”
“Why do you want to know? Oh, no, Carter, I would not date you. Get that thought out of your mind,” she laughed.
“No, that’s not what I mean. I’m just wondering. I mean, if you’re not serious about each other, it’s kind of weird to move to Ruskin just to be near him,” Nick stated.
“Oh, so you’re looking for another way to get me out of your hair. Yes, we are dating exclusively.”
That was the answer he was expecting. As bad as he felt, he couldn’t seem to find the nerve to tell her Brad was cheating on her. “That wasn’t what I meant, either. I’m not trying to get rid of you. I just…never mind,” he said. “How long have you been together?”
“Almost two years. We met in France three years ago. We got to be good friends, and one day, we decided to go out on a date on a whim. It turned out to be really great, and now here we are.” She paused when she noticed him staring at her. “Why are you watching me? You’re really starting to creep me out, Carter.”
“Sorry. I’m zoning out here.”
She looked at him strangely. “I can tell.”
After lunch, she turned on the TV in the kitchen as they rinsed their dishes and put them in the dishwasher. “I think I’m gonna clean out your refrigerator. You have a bunch of old stuff in there that desperately needs to be thrown away. I’m afraid I’m gonna wake up in the middle of the night and end up drinking a glass of six year old milk,” she stated.
“Do you want me to do it?”
“No because if you do it, it’ll never get done. Besides, guys never know whether to throw something out or not and you’ll end up calling me in here for help a billion times.”
He shrugged and turned around to go into the living room and watch TV. “Okay, if you’re sure.” ‘Amazing, Little Miss Priss is cleaning twice in one day,’ he thought. “Wait, do you want help?”
“Sure, if you want. I mean, it’s no problem. I can do it by myself, but…” she trailed off.
“I get the hint. You really don’t want to do it by yourself. I’ll give you a hand.” He pulled the garbage can over and looked at the television screen as the weatherman spoke. “There’s gonna be a storm tonight.”
“Really? Great,” she said sarcastically. “I hate storms.”
“I love them. They’re so relaxing.” He paused. “Are you afraid of them?”
She looked at him absurdly and forced a laugh. “Of course not. There’s very little I’m afraid of.”
“What are you afraid of?” he asked.
She laughed again, this time genuinely. “Like I would tell you, Carter. Come on. If I told you I were afraid of snakes, you’d probably sneak into my room and put one in my bed at night.”
“No, I wouldn’t. I’m a nice guy,” he said, grinning angelically. “I’m afraid of flying.”
“So am I,” she stated quickly. Maybe that would get him off her back. She looked back into the refrigerator and handed him a jar of Miracle Whip to throw out, signaling she was done talking about fear.
Taking her hint, he changed the subject. “So this Brad guy. You really care about him, huh? You must if you moved from Atlanta just to be near him.”
Again, she seemed to close up. “Yeah, I do. He’s a nice guy,” she said simply.
He sighed. How was he going to keep it from her that Brad was cheating on her? She had to know. “Look, Michelle, the other night – “
“Hey, they’re saying maybe the storm will miss us. That’s good,” she interrupted. “I’m sorry, what were you going to say?”
“Oh, nothing important.”