When We're Thirty Casey Dembowski (the chimp paradox .TXT) 📖

“Shall we show her the secret handshake?” Kate asked dryly.

Hannah rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored her friends. She walked the length of the balcony and pulled Will into a hug. “How was dinner?”

“Long,” he said. “Madison, Jon is waiting for you downstairs.”

Madison downed the rest of her wine. “Guess that’s my cue. Ladies, this has been wonderful. I’ll see you Tuesday, Hannah. Can’t wait to hear how your parents take the news.” She turned to Will. “William.”

He didn’t respond, not even a nod of acknowledgment. Hannah eyed him. Tensions between her and Will had eased in the last few days—near-constant making out would do that. Had something happened at dinner?

“Well, I better catch an Uber,” Kate said, peeking over the rail at the traffic below. “Hannah, William.”

“Don’t call me that,” Will said.

“Can’t I even try it out?”

He shook his head. “Trust me, Will is a much better person than William.”

Hannah shot him a look, but he wouldn’t meet her gaze. What was going on with him tonight?

“Are you sure everything is okay?” she asked after Kate had secured her ride.

Will shrugged out of his coat and pulled her into a lingering kiss. There was an intimation of longing in the slow movements of his lips against hers. His hands tangled in strands of hair that had escaped her bun. She wondered if this was the moment he would slip her shirt over her head and let them move beyond kissing, but it wasn’t.

He stepped back and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Just a long night, and I wasn’t prepared to see you shouting into the abyss.”

She blushed. “Well, wine, a challenge, and—”

“—Madison.” They said it at the same time, Hannah with amusement and Will with mild weariness.

“Do you...” She paused. It was such a weird question to even have to ask. “You don’t like Madison?”

There was an abnormally long pause where Will’s face tensed and relaxed. Hannah thought he might not answer. “I like Madison fine. Sometimes she’s just a little much. I worry that she’s... bigger than Jon.”

“Well, yeah. But I think that’s probably their strength. Jon tempers her, and she brings him out of his comfort zone.” Hannah followed him into the apartment. Something about his answer was still off, but she saw the tiredness in his eyes and the set of his shoulders and decided to tread lightly.

“You’re probably right,” he said through a yawn. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”

“That sounds fun.” She placed a hand on his chest and fiddled with the top button on his shirt, popping it open. Will sighed as her finger slid just inside his shirt. “Can I join you?”

His hand caught hers, stopping her from undoing another button. He kissed her again, pushing her back against the wall. It was hard and desperate, and she wanted so badly to touch him again, to slowly strip him of every piece of clothing he had on. But Will held her hands between them.

This time, she broke the kiss. She glanced up at him, expecting his eyes to be wild after everything she’d felt in his kiss, but he was perfectly in control.

He backed away, dropping her hand. “Ask me again when you’re sober.”

HANNAH ROLLED OVER, her arm slamming into something solid and warm. Will. She’d almost expected him to sleep in the other room after her tipsy attempt to seduce him. But there he was, sitting in bed, reading the morning paper.

She nudged closer to him, and he let her, even wrapping his arm around her. Maybe they didn’t have to talk about it. Maybe it could just be a thing that’d happened and never got mentioned again. Though it’s not like there was anything wrong with propositioning her husband, especially with Rule 3a in effect.

“About last night,” he said.

Or not.

“I’m sorry.” Hannah pushed up until she sat face-to-face with him. “I know we’re supposed to be waiting until our hearts catch up.”

He kissed her lightly. “If we’re going to turn our marriage into a real relationship—and I want to, Hannah, so much—let’s do it right. Our first time shouldn’t be when you’re tipsy and I’m frustrated.”

“I agree.”

“Well...” He paused and cut a glance at her. “You’re sober now.”

Her heart pounded in her chest, and her whole body sprang to life. She throbbed with anticipation and desire. Her voice came out in barely a whisper. “But you just said—”

“There are plenty of other things we can do.”

She grinned and slipped out of bed, pulling him with her. “Will you join me in the shower, husband?”

Chapter 27Hannah

As soon as they pulled off the highway and into the backroads of Ardena, Hannah had the sensation of being eighteen again. Eighteen because that was the first time she’d ever truly left home, and returning that first Christmas break, her car stuffed to the roof with her belongings, she’d realized she’d never really be able to come back. In twelve years, that feeling hadn’t gone away.

“Kate said you were from the backwoods, but, um, where exactly do you live?”

Kate would say that. She spared him a look of derision, keeping her eyes locked on the road. “We prefer rural-fringe.”

It was true that Ardena didn’t give the best first impression from this direction, with its abandoned buildings and an old overgrown farmers’ market lane. But like so many exits, this was a crossroads. Going left would wind through small towns to the beach, the right would lead to municipal buildings and the business district, and straight ahead were farms and parks and endless developments. The light changed, and they continued straight into the heart of suburbia.

“Did you just make that up? Rural-fringe?” He placed his hand over hers on the gearshift.

“What?” She glanced over at him. “No.”

“Rural-fringe, who knew?”

“Anyone who lives outside New York City.” Hannah laughed and turned onto a road lined with horse farms.

“Do you have horses?” he asked. “Should I have brought my chaps?”

“If I ever see you