women’s frames,” Lexi said delicately.
“No, they’re not! Are they? Shit. They were on the men’s side of the eyewear store,” Addison said. He took off his glasses and squinted down at the black plastic frames.
“Come on, let’s get to work. We’re never going to get through the Torts assignment,” I said.
“Kate, let me share your book. I didn’t get a chance to go home before I came here,” Nick said.
After we’d gone over Torts and Crim, we decided to pack it in for the afternoon.
“Did you drive?” Nick asked me as I stacked my books and notepads up.
I nodded.
“Can you give me a ride home? I left my car at the bar last night,” Nick said.
We said good-bye to the rest of the group and began the two-block walk to where my Civic was parked.
“I feel like shit,” Nick said. “I’m so hungover. Hey, can we go to Burger King?”
“We could, but why would we want to?” I asked.
“The Whopper is the world’s best hangover cure. Especially when accompanied by a chocolate shake,” Nick said. He glanced at me and frowned. “What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“That thing on your back,” he said.
“What, my knapsack?”
“It’s enormous. It looks like the kind that people use when they climb mountains,” Nick said.
“Yeah, I think that’s what it’s for. It’s from L.L. Bean. It just arrived yesterday. My leather one wasn’t big enough to fit all of my textbooks in it,” I explained.
“Do you have a pup tent in there? A month’s supply of beef jerky?”
“Well, if I do, smart-ass, I’m not sharing it with you,” I said.
“I love it when you sweet-talk me,” Nick said, and I punched him playfully in the arm.
Twenty minutes later, I pulled up in front of our house. Nick was clutching a greasy Burger King bag in his hand as he got out of the car.
“What are you doing now?” Nick asked as we climbed the steps to our shared front porch. “There’s a
Magnum, P.I.
marathon on cable. Want to come over and watch it with me?”
“Can’t,” I said. I nodded toward my door. “My ex—Graham—is waiting for me.”
Nick’s eyebrows arched up, and he looked at me for a moment. “I’m sure there’s a whole long story there, huh?”
“Probably. Although I don’t know what it is yet.”
“Well…good luck finding out,” Nick said. He turned and unlocked his door.
“Thanks,” I said.
And then I went up to see Graham.
“I think we should get back together,” Graham said.
We were sitting on either end of the couch, half turned to face each other. Graham’s arm was draped over the back of the couch.
“But…why?” I asked. I didn’t realize how abrupt the question sounded until I saw the frown pull at his face.
“I’ve missed you. I miss us,” he said simply. “Don’t you?”
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “But things weren’t going that well between us before.”
Graham nodded. “I know. I think we were both too passive about our relationship. We got lazy.”
Was that it? I wondered. Everyone always says that you have to work at a relationship, that you have to make an effort to keep things spicy. So how do you know when you have something worth saving, worth holding on to, something good that’s only gotten stale through neglect…and when you don’t?
“A lot of the time I felt really alone,” I persisted. “And also that I was less important to you than the other things in your life. Your work, your hobbies.”
Graham shook his head. “You were always the most important thing in my life, Kate. Always. And if you didn’t know that…” He closed his eyes for a minute. “Then that just makes me the world’s biggest asshole.”
I smiled. “You’re not an asshole.”
“Will you give me a second chance?”
“But now you’re in Arizona, and I’m here,” I said.
“I know it won’t be easy. But we can do the long-distance thing, and if it works out, one of us will move,”
“No, they’re not! Are they? Shit. They were on the men’s side of the eyewear store,” Addison said. He took off his glasses and squinted down at the black plastic frames.
“Come on, let’s get to work. We’re never going to get through the Torts assignment,” I said.
“Kate, let me share your book. I didn’t get a chance to go home before I came here,” Nick said.
After we’d gone over Torts and Crim, we decided to pack it in for the afternoon.
“Did you drive?” Nick asked me as I stacked my books and notepads up.
I nodded.
“Can you give me a ride home? I left my car at the bar last night,” Nick said.
We said good-bye to the rest of the group and began the two-block walk to where my Civic was parked.
“I feel like shit,” Nick said. “I’m so hungover. Hey, can we go to Burger King?”
“We could, but why would we want to?” I asked.
“The Whopper is the world’s best hangover cure. Especially when accompanied by a chocolate shake,” Nick said. He glanced at me and frowned. “What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“That thing on your back,” he said.
“What, my knapsack?”
“It’s enormous. It looks like the kind that people use when they climb mountains,” Nick said.
“Yeah, I think that’s what it’s for. It’s from L.L. Bean. It just arrived yesterday. My leather one wasn’t big enough to fit all of my textbooks in it,” I explained.
“Do you have a pup tent in there? A month’s supply of beef jerky?”
“Well, if I do, smart-ass, I’m not sharing it with you,” I said.
“I love it when you sweet-talk me,” Nick said, and I punched him playfully in the arm.
Twenty minutes later, I pulled up in front of our house. Nick was clutching a greasy Burger King bag in his hand as he got out of the car.
“What are you doing now?” Nick asked as we climbed the steps to our shared front porch. “There’s a
Magnum, P.I.
marathon on cable. Want to come over and watch it with me?”
“Can’t,” I said. I nodded toward my door. “My ex—Graham—is waiting for me.”
Nick’s eyebrows arched up, and he looked at me for a moment. “I’m sure there’s a whole long story there, huh?”
“Probably. Although I don’t know what it is yet.”
“Well…good luck finding out,” Nick said. He turned and unlocked his door.
“Thanks,” I said.
And then I went up to see Graham.
“I think we should get back together,” Graham said.
We were sitting on either end of the couch, half turned to face each other. Graham’s arm was draped over the back of the couch.
“But…why?” I asked. I didn’t realize how abrupt the question sounded until I saw the frown pull at his face.
“I’ve missed you. I miss us,” he said simply. “Don’t you?”
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “But things weren’t going that well between us before.”
Graham nodded. “I know. I think we were both too passive about our relationship. We got lazy.”
Was that it? I wondered. Everyone always says that you have to work at a relationship, that you have to make an effort to keep things spicy. So how do you know when you have something worth saving, worth holding on to, something good that’s only gotten stale through neglect…and when you don’t?
“A lot of the time I felt really alone,” I persisted. “And also that I was less important to you than the other things in your life. Your work, your hobbies.”
Graham shook his head. “You were always the most important thing in my life, Kate. Always. And if you didn’t know that…” He closed his eyes for a minute. “Then that just makes me the world’s biggest asshole.”
I smiled. “You’re not an asshole.”
“Will you give me a second chance?”
“But now you’re in Arizona, and I’m here,” I said.
“I know it won’t be easy. But we can do the long-distance thing, and if it works out, one of us will move,”
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