Page 28 of It's a Wonderful Knife

“Seems like an odd place to have a Peeping Tom or a homeless guy.”

“I agree.” He yawned and stood to take off his pants. Then he put his pajama bottoms back on and moved around to his side of the bed.

We climbed in under the covers and moved together. I put my arm around his waist, and he had one arm behind his head. “I found out a little bit about those two from talking to them.”

“Yeah?”

“Santiago teaches yoga in LA, and Amelia works at Macy’s in the cosmetics department. They’ve been dating for three years, and he’s about ten years older than her.”

“Even without the age difference, they seem like an odd couple.”

“I agree.”

“Of course, so do we.”

He caressed his fingers on the small of my back. “Difference is, we like each other a whole lot. They don’t seem to like each other one iota.”

“We definitely haven’t seen them at their best.”

“No.” He rested his chin on my head. “She looked like she’d been crying. I wasn’t sure if that was from seeing a Peeping Tom or if she’d already been upset.”

“They were probably fighting.”

“Yeah.” His hand pressed my spine. “I’m glad we’re not fighting anymore.”

I closed my eyes. “God, me too. That was possibly the worst time of my life.”

“Yeah? That’s saying something since you haven’t exactly had it easy.”

I fiddled with the pearlescent button of his flannel pajamas. “I had it easier than a lot of people. Some people have the same type of emotionally detached parents I had but no money. At least I had money. That gave me a lot of opportunities I wouldn’t otherwise have had.”

“That’s a very enlightened way to look at things.”

“I don’t see the point of feeling sorry for myself. It won’t change anything.” I shrugged. “Everything I went through brought me here.”

“True.” He sighed.

“If I’d been more likable, I might have already been taken.”

“Don’t even jest.” His arm tightened.

I smiled. “Well, as luck would have it, I wasn’t in high demand.”

“It worked out how it was supposed to,” he said softly.

I liked to think he was right and that we were meant to be together. It certainly felt that way. We fell silent, and his breathing deepened.

I thought he was asleep until he said, “There sure are a lot of unhappy couples around us.”

“Yes.” I frowned. “What do you make of Lucas and River? Do you think they’re romantically involved?”

“Sometimes I do, then River will hit on me. I have no idea what is going on with those two.” He laughed gruffly. “They’re so strange with each other. It’s like, they’re very close, but there’s resentment.”

“What do you suppose that conversation about boundaries was about?”

“Maybe they’re friends with benefits. Perhaps one of them wants more but isn’t sure that’s what the other one wants?”

I said after a moment, “I’m glad we’re past that stage. I hated not knowing what you wanted.”