ex-wife, but that was all a lie and manipulation, so this is real…and it’s different.”
He turned to me, eyeing me sympathetically. “Maybe you should try again? People get back together all the time.”
“But Carson isn’t like other people…”
“Maybe. But when enough time passes, it could be different. She obviously doesn’t seem angry with you, so I would try again…at some point. That’s my best advice.”
“Thanks.”
We entered the pizza parlor and sat at the same table as last time. Beers were ordered, and since Matt would die if he didn’t eat, we ordered right away. I took the seat beside Carson, with William across from me.
He drank his beer and behaved like a long conversation about my unresolved feelings for her never happened.
“Did you grill him?” Carson asked me, still stunning even when her makeup was gone and her hair was a little greasy.
“Why would I grill him?”
“You know, because he’s trying to be a member of your family.” She deepened her voice and tried to speak like a character from the Godfather. “He wants to be part of this family…he needs to earn it.”
Charlie rolled his eyes. “Oh my god, I hate it when she does the Godfather voice.”
William smiled, like he thought it was amusing.
Everything she did was amusing. She wasn’t afraid to be goofy or different. Other girls cared about being beautiful all the time, quiet and polite, well-liked. Carson didn’t care what anyone thought of her.
“I’m not trying to be a member of the family,” William said. “At least, not right this second. Someday, yes. But she moves at the pace of an iceberg…”
“I think she’ll be different after our talk,” I said.
“She’s definitely been in a better mood,” William said.
“What did you think of his basketball skills?” Carson asked.
“You’re really going to ask me that right in front of him?” I asked incredulously.
“It’s good for him to know where you stand,” she said. “Keep him in line.”
“Damn, she’s tough.” William drank from his beer. “I’m glad she’s not my girlfriend’s brother.”
“She’s an even worse roommate,” Charlie said.
She swatted him playfully. “Am not. You would die if I moved out.”
“No, I think I’d be okay,” he said sarcastically.
“Oh, come on,” she said. “You would be totally heartbroken. There’d be no groceries in the house, no beer… What would you do without beer?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have dirty dishes in the sink and pieces of popcorn stuck between the cushions in the couch,” he fired back.
I noticed they fought like siblings, so that cured the jealousy I’d had long ago. They didn’t tease each other in a flirtatious way. Charlie genuinely hated and loved her the way I hated and loved my sister.
“Oh, whatever.” She rolled her eyes and drank from her beer.
William glanced back and forth between them. “Are you guys brother and sister?”
“Psh,” Carson snapped. “He wishes.”
Charlie shook his hand. “Being roommates is the extent of our relation.”
The fries and wings came out first, and Carson ate like one of the guys, getting her elbows on the table, but she also kept her mouth clean with a napkin, eating like a lady with an appetite that rivaled ours.
The two of us got along together so well that sometimes I wondered how she could keep this distance from me. It just felt right, like we belonged together. Once we became completely honest with each other, it was even better than it used to be. Was I the only one who felt that? Was I stuck in my head, in a different reality?
When I looked at William, he was staring at me while he ate a few fries. He didn’t say anything because the intention behind his gaze was clear. He saw the way I stared at Carson.
I just wondered if she noticed the way I stared at her too.
Eight
Carson
Charlie and I sat at the dining table together, both working on our laptops, drinking beer. We’d had dinner hours ago, and now it was late into the night, the brightness from the screen making my eyes tired.
My phone lit up with a text message.
Boy Toy #1: Still seeing that guy?
After I read the message, I went back to my article.
Charlie must have read it because he said, “The apartment has been quiet.”
“You want to get a dog?” I asked excitedly.
He gave me a cold stare before he rolled his eyes. “I meant you haven’t brought any dates back to the apartment.”
I shrugged then turned back to my computer.
“And you haven’t been seeing anyone, as far as I can tell.”
“What’s