Dear Heart, I Hate You

“I haven’t talked to her yet today. I assume she’s good.”

“You suck at being a boyfriend.”

Bristling at the criticism, I said, “Then it’s a good thing I’m not anyone’s boyfriend now, isn’t it?”

“Deny, deny, deny,” he said in a singsong voice, and I wasn’t sure why, but it bothered the hell out of me and made me uncomfortable.

“Go away.” I shoved his ass off my desk, but he stubbornly stood there, refusing to leave.

“No.”

I groaned. “What do you want?”

“I want to hear about your weekend,” he insisted, raising his eyebrows. “The details.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt or how in depth I wanted to get, so I kept it vague. “We had a great time. That’s all, Luc.”

He raised his hands in the air in surrender. “Okay. You don’t want to talk about it. I’ll let it slide, for now. But . . .” He tilted his head, giving me an expectant look.

“But what?”

“Where are my presents?”

I bit back a smile. “What am I, your dad?”

“Don’t act like you didn’t bring me back something. We always bring each other gifts. You might be a shitty boyfriend to Jules,” he said with a smug grin, “but you’re a great one to me.”

Resisting the urge to punch him, I opened one of my drawers and pulled out the bag from the souvenir shop. “Here,” I said as I tossed it to him.

“I knew it!” He dug in like a kid at Christmas, pulling out each item before oohing and aahing over it. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, you big baby. Now get the hell out of my cube.”

• • •

When Jules called me later that night, my heart leaped into my throat at the sound of her voice.

At the risk of sounding girly, I admitted, “I hate only being able to talk on the phone with you after just being with you.”

“I was just thinking the exact same thing. It’s so much better seeing you face-to-face,” she said, and her words made me smile.

“How was work?”

“Good. The deal went through and they got the house, so everyone’s happy.”

She sounded so pleased, it simultaneously made me happy for her

and upset on her behalf. I was glad the deal went through, but still upset that she had to share her commission after doing the majority of the work for weeks.

“Wait! Did you talk to Ron and Tabbie today?” she asked.

“I did.”

“And? Don’t leave me hanging. What happened?”

“They signed with me for a year.”

“That’s so awesome! Congratulations. That’s huge. I’m so happy for you.”