The Intimacy Experiment (The Roommate #2) - Rosie Danan Page 0,94

selfish when he kissed her. Or even less afraid that he’d always hurt the people he cared about by not giving as much as he took.

But he did feel achingly present in that perfect, fleeting moment.

And for now, it was enough. Or something like it.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

ETHAN STILL GOT surprised when he saw Naomi at his own synagogue, so he was completely shocked to find her coming out of Endmore Boulevard the next afternoon.

She sat on the steps of the shul, book open in her lap. Hair up and away from her face again, forehead crinkled in concentration. She didn’t notice him until he got within a foot of her, his shadow falling across her page. When she did tip her head back to take him in, shielding her eyes from the sun with a hand, her lips fell open. “Ethan? What are you doing here?”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. It seemed asinine to repeat her question back at her. “I’m meeting Rabbi Rosen for coffee.”

“Ah. That makes sense.” She closed her book. “I guess you’re probably wondering the same thing about me, huh?”

“I think that’s fair to say.” He dropped down to sit beside her, nudging her leg with his.

Naomi took a deep breath. “So, I’ve kind of been attending classes here.”

“What kind of classes?” He would have been less surprised if she’d said she came here to wash windows.

She flipped her book over so he could see the title. To Be a Jew by Hayim Halevy Donin. “An eight-week series on reconnecting with faith.”

“Oh. Wow.” He shifted his bag off his shoulder and placed it between his knees. “Okay. And uh . . . what week is this?”

Of course he supported her pursuing religious study. The idea of her with a pen between her lips, poring over ancient texts, actually made him kind of hot. But the fact that she’d kept this obviously relevant detail about her life from him still sat squirming in his gut.

Naomi bit her lip. “Three.”

So that was . . . the entire time they’d been dating. Most of the time she’d been running the seminar. “Right. Okay,” he said again. He guessed he couldn’t really blame her. Endmore Boulevard was great. He’d grown up coming here. The staff, congregation, all of it was top-notch, thriving. Shiny and well-funded. Practically dripping in respect. Not that Ethan was envious or anything.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I actually signed up under my given name.” Naomi pushed her hair off her face, sending it cascading in a wave of shiny red silk. “It made things easier. Let me blend in. No baggage.”

“That makes sense.” He tried to process this new info, but his brain struggled to keep up.

“At first I didn’t want you to think I was doing it to impress you, and then I just got into it, I guess. I liked having this part of my life to myself. Growing up, my parents weren’t super religious, and so I never really got the chance to figure out my relationship to faith. My mom is actually—”

“I get it,” Ethan assured her. He’d had a similar experience, after all. Faith was so personal. Sometimes sharing that part of yourself felt like exposing something fragile to the windstorm of the world.

“Hey, if you were gonna cheat on me with another rabbi, you couldn’t find a better one than Sarah.” In addition to being beloved, she’d built her own organization dedicated to advancing access to sustainable energy solutions. He couldn’t begrudge another religious scientist, even if he wanted to.

Naomi wrapped her hand around his arm and pulled him in so she could lean her chin on his shoulder. “You’re still my favorite.”

Ethan kissed the top of her head, breathing in the lavender scent of her shampoo. “Yeah, but for how long? Her singing voice is way better than mine.”

“Oh, well, yeah,” Naomi teased. “I assume I’ll have to leave you when I’m ready to start a band, but we can have fun until then.”

“In that case, I’ll see you at softball practice on Sunday?” Ethan got to his feet reluctantly, already late.

“You know I’d never miss a chance to admire your butt in those pants,” Naomi shouted at his retreating form.

He gave her a dorky wave, cheeks hot.

Are you sure we can still have fun? he wanted to ask her.

After three nights ago, when she’d walked out of their auditorium and into a snake pit? When Ethan hadn’t been able to protect her from