Nothing More

I raise a brow. “No way. Here in Brooklyn?”

What a freaking coincidence.

“Yes way,”she half jokes, but I can see she’s not really finding it funny. “He came in and I was so surprised to see him here, all the way across the country. He’s starting his training as I finish mine. It’s so weird, right?”

It’s definitely weird. “A little, yeah.”

“It’s like the universe is giving me some sort of a test or something.” Her voice is heavy with exhaustion. “Do you think it’s okay for me to be friends with him? I’m not even close to being ready to date anyone.” She looks around the room. “But I could use more friends. That’s okay, right?”

“What? More friends than just me? How could you!” I tease.

Tessa kicks out at me and I grab hold of her pink-socked foot, tickling the sole. She screams and lunges at me, but she’s easy to stop.

I hold my arms up and wrap them around her, preventing her from whatever revenge she was planning to exact. She screams and her laughter rings through the apartment.

God, I have missed her laughter so much.

“Nice try,” I say, laughing, tickling her sides.

She shrieks again, thrashing around like a fish on a line.

“Landon!” Tessa shouts dramatically, trying to get free from my grip.

This must be what it’s like to have a sister. I can’t wait for little Abby to come into the world. I better stay in shape so I can keep up with her. Sometimes I worry that the gap in our ages will be too big, that she won’t want to be close to me.

Tessa is still kicking and I’ve loosened my hold on her. She’s red-faced and her hair is messy. Her green tie is thrown over her shoulder and I can’t help but burst into laughter. She sticks her tongue out at me. Hearing something, I look toward the hallway.

Dakota is standing in the doorway staring, stone-faced, at Tessa and me on the couch.

“Hey.” I smile at her, relieved that she didn’t stand me up.

“Hi.”

“Hey, Dakota.” Tessa waves with one hand while trying to fix her braid with the other.

I stand up from the couch and walk toward Dakota. She’s wearing a white T-shirt, hung off one shoulder and barely covering her pink sports bra underneath. Her pants are workout capris, the tight black material clinging to her skin.

“I’m going back to work. If you guys need anything while I’m out, text me,” Tessa says. She grabs her purse from the table and tucks her keys into her apron.

We never finished our conversation about Robert, but I don’t think she feels comfortable enough around Dakota to talk about it. Still, it’s so strange that he’s here, living in Brooklyn. If this were a comic book, I would swear he was a creepy stalker, or some kind of spy.

A spy would be more interesting, for sure.

“Will do,” I say just as she walks through the door.

Turning to look at Dakota, I notice that she hasn’t moved from the spot she was standing in when she came in.

“You look beautiful,” I tell her.

She fights a smile.

“So beautiful . . .” I go over and kiss her on her cheek. “How was your day?”

She relaxes and I can’t tell if she’s in a bad mood or if she’s nervous to be alone with me after all