Page 60 of Center of Gravity

Scott laughed. “It’s always the small breeds that do that. My sister had one once. Meanest sumbitch you’ve ever seen.”

“I believe it.” I gave him another polite smile and shut my box, shuffling my mail to one hip as I prepared to leave. “Pleasure to meet you, Scott.”

“Likewise,” he said, closing his mailbox and starting to turn before he stopped and angled back in my direction. “You play poker, Rob?”

I tilted my head, intrigued. “I’ve been known to play a hand or two.” At least back in college. No need to date myself, though.

“A few other folks in the complex and I have a game that goes once every week or so. Alden recently moved, so we’re down a guy. You have any interest?”

I would have said no any other time. I liked poker, but I didn’t often have enough hours in the day, and I remembered the games going for hours on end. So I didn’t know what it was exactly that made me say yes, but when I did, Scott grinned again and we exchanged numbers.

“Did it sell yet?”Summer asked when I called later that night.

“It’s only been on the market for six hours, Sum.”

“It’s gorgeous, though. Thanks for sending the pictures. I feel like someone will snap it up soon.”

“Most likely.” I ignored the sliver of sadness that accompanied the thought.

“So is it good to be back at work, plugged back into the large machine of the world, back to cog status?” she teased. “Is Winslow driving you crazy yet?”

“It’s good, yeah. They put my name up for promotion. It’ll probably come through in a few weeks. And no, surprisingly, Winslow and I are getting along pretty well. Alex told me. I didn’t believe him.”

“Alex? Oh, right, Alex! Oh my god. You slept with him, didn’t you?”

“No.” I groaned, then gave in. “Sort of.”

I filled her in on everything that had happened. My back, the hospital, and everything that followed after.

“Holy shit, Rob.”

“I know. It makes no sense.”

“That’s so unlike you. I love it. Will you see him again, do you think?”

“Unlikely. I was pretty clear about things when I left.”

“That sounds more like my big bro. Always with the rules and boundary lines.”

“Yeah, well, look what happened with Sean.”

“So Sean was a mistake, so what?”

“Sean was a mistake. The end.”

Summer sighed. I could imagine her looping her hair around her fingers, knotting it up as she did when she was frustrated. “I love you to death Rob, but you can’t plot love in real life like you can a career path or a chart.”

* * *

Alex sentme a text Thursday afternoon as I stretched out at my desk after lunch.

I don’t want to bother you (much) but could you do me a favor and take a look at some of these loan options? They’re making my head spin. I can’t think in bottom lines like you do.

I studied the message, unsure whether that last part was a subtle dig, then texted him back my email address, instructing him to send them over and I’d take a look.

I called him later that afternoon.

“You’re out of breath,” I said when he answered.