On my way to pick up Izzy, I stopped by Verizon and got a new, ridiculously overpriced iPhone. They weren’t able to save anything from my old phone, so I had no numbers or contacts, and I’d basically be starting from scratch. I didn’t even know the first digit of Hunter’s telephone number.

It was probably best that Izzy had transformed back to a disgruntled teenager and was in a mood when I picked her up from practice. My emotions were already all over the place, and I wasn’t sure it would be wise to discuss boys or her dad. When we pulled up at her grandmother’s house, I double parked.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I dropped my phone in the bathtub. I don’t even know your number.” I dug my new cell from my jacket pocket. “Can you program it in?”

She took it and typed as she spoke. “When did you take a bath?”

“This afternoon.”

“But you showered this morning. You were in there when I woke up.”

“Umm…I was stressed so I tried a new bath bomb.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I lied. “Just some work things were bothering me.”

I walked Izzy to the door, spoke to her grandmother for a minute, and then forced a hug and a kiss. “I’ll call you tomorrow to check in.”

“Are you doing anything this weekend?” she asked.

I smiled, happy to not have to lie. “I plan on spending the weekend in bed.”

***

Was it possible to feel your heart bouncing against your ribcage? I wasn’t sure, but that’s what it felt like was going on. Either that or I had a massive case of indigestion. I parked my car in a garage on the same block as Hunter’s place, and everything hit me when I handed the keys to the valet. He asked me what time I would be picking it up.

I swallowed. “Not until Sunday.”

I was really doing this.

Butterflies swarmed in my belly, stronger and stronger with each step I took toward Hunter’s building. I took a deep breath as the doorman greeted me.

“You must be Ms. Rossi?”

It wasn’t the same doorman who had been working the night I’d visited. “Yes. How did you know that?”

He smiled warmly and took off his hat. “Mr. Delucia called earlier and said you would be arriving about now. He was unable to reach you and wanted me to let you know his flight was delayed, and he’ll arrive home about nine.”

“Oh.” Disappointment settled in. I’d taken all afternoon to psych myself up for arrival, and another hour would surely fray the last of my nerves.

The doorman reached into his pocket. “He asked that I get the key from the super so you could let yourself in and wait. Would you like me to take you up?”

“Oh. No. I can do it myself.” I took the keys and felt the need to explain myself for some unknown reason. “I dropped my phone in water. That’s why he couldn’t reach me.”

During the elevator ride up, I dug my new phone out of my pocket again. I hadn’t checked it since the store activated it, other than to have Izzy enter her number. Sure enough, I had a new message from Hunter that had arrived in the last few minutes.

Hunter: Just landed at JFK. My messages aren’t showing as delivered. Hope all is okay.

I saved his number to my contacts and typed back.

Nat: I broke my phone and just picked up a new one an hour ago. Lost all my contacts.

Hunter: Flight was delayed. Going to be about another hour before I get there. Sorry. Benny the doorman should have a key for you to let yourself in.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open as I typed.

Nat: On the elevator with key in hand as I type this.

Hunter: Nice. I was starting to worry you were blowing me off.

His apartment was a few doors down from the elevator, so I let myself in before responding again.

Nat: I still have an hour to reconsider. Anything can happen…

Hunter: How about you spend that hour getting undressed and thinking about all the things I’m going to do to you when I get home.

Now that was tempting. I bit my bottom lip and played with him a little.

Nat: You’re not even going to feed me first?

The dots started to jump around, then stopped, then started again.

Hunter: I’d give you the visual of what I just imagined feeding you, but we need to stop texting or I’m not going to be able to walk off this plane in a few minutes without embarrassing myself.

Oh my. He didn’t have to describe it, my own image was just as vivid. Another text came in before I could respond.

Hunter: See you soon.

Sigh. I left my suitcase at the front door and walked to the balcony. I pulled the cord to open the privacy blinds that covered the glass doors and appreciated the spectacular view. It was odd to be inside Hunter’s apartment by myself. After a bit of city gazing, I decided to look around a little. And by look, I mean snoop.

It wasn’t his home, so the place was pretty bare of personal belongings. Yet that didn’t stop me from checking out his medicine cabinet. An extra box of toothpaste, large bottle of mouthwash, unopened vitamins, two untouched deodorants—pretty much just the basics. Although I suppose if he had medicines, they’d likely have traveled with him, so I wasn’t really learning anything. In the bedroom, there was a fair amount of clothes in the closet, and the chest of drawers had the usual assortment of socks and underwear. Looking around the room, there wasn’t much else to look at—other than the nightstand.

The one on the far side of the room was empty. I was just about to call my little snooping session a bust when I stopped at the other nightstand. Slipping it open with my pointer finger, I hit pay dirt. Inside was a bag, sitting on top of some papers. I took note of how the bag had been placed inside and then lifted it to check out the contents. Inside was the largest box of condoms I’d ever seen, a bottle of lubricant that could be heated, and…bath bombs. I swooned seeing that Hunter had picked up the same scent as I had soaked with earlier today—sweet pea. It also made me happy that the only condoms in the apartment seemed to be an unopened box that he’d purchased with me in mind.

Before replacing the bag, I fingered through the papers, being careful not to disrupt them too much. Inside was a short-term lease agreement for the company-owned apartment, a rental car agreement, and a piece of mail addressed to Hunter. As I started to place the bag back where I’d taken it from, I happened to notice the postmark on the envelope—which had been mailed almost ten years ago. Scanning the return address, I recognized the name—Jayce Delucia—Hunter’s brother. I knew he’d died years ago. My hand rubbed at a spot on my chest, feeling emotional that Hunter carried around an old letter from his dead brother. He wasn’t just a handsome guy blessed with natural charm—he was a man of many layers. And unlike most men, the more I looked beneath the surface, the more I liked what I saw.

I was a snooper, but I wasn’t a total asshole, so I put the letter from his brother back and arranged the drawer the way it had been before sliding it shut. I had no idea what to do with myself after that. Hunter wouldn’t be here for another forty-five minutes, at least, so I decided to call Anna. It would be fun to play guess where I am.

“My nipples are killing me,” she said as she answered, rather than hello.

Nothing surprised me with her. “Well, okay then. That’s where this conversation is going. I was going to take it in a different direction, but I can work with this. How’s your asshole doing?”

She groaned. “Seriously, why can’t men be the ones to produce milk? I mean, we do everything. I carried this little pipsqueak for ten months, popped her out of my tiny little vagina, and now my tits are killing me because all she does is suck on them all day.” I heard a sweet little yelp in the background when she finished her rant.

“Is that my niece?”

“It is.” Her voice softened. “She sucks like a Hoover.”

“Aww. I miss you guys. Tell me what she’s up to these days. Is she walking? Talking?” I joked.

“Not quite. But she’s got pooping and sucking down pretty good.”

I laughed and settled into Hunter’s couch. It was so good to hear her voice, like wrapping myself in an old blanket from childhood. “How are you feeling?”

“Aside from the cracked nipples, I actually feel really good. I’ve been walking the baby in the stroller a lot, and with breastfeeding burning up all my calories, my body is starting to shrink toward its normal shape.”

“Wow. That’s great.”

“What’s going on with you?”

“Eh.” I feigned no big deal. “I’m just sitting at Hunter’s place, waiting for him to come home so we can screw like rabbits.”

A shriek so loud came through the phone that I had to pull it away from my ear. Needless to say, we did a lot of catching up over the next half hour. Though Anna had been initially leery of me and Hunter getting together, she was genuinely excited. Maybe too excited. She had me moving out to the west coast, marrying her husband’s best friend so the four of us could be inseparable, and pushing a baby carriage next to her. The reality was, Hunter and I were only going to be fuck buddies.

I attempted to set her expectations straight, although the hope I heard in her voice told me that wasn’t going to be an easy task.

“Why don’t you meet him at the door naked?” Anna said.