When We're Thirty by Casey Dembowski (beautiful books to read .TXT) 📕

the light-blue tie with small purple flowers that Binx had just clawed. “Another one bites the dust.”

“I told you not to leave them out.” She took a sip of her coffee to try and hide her frustration. Maybe she was immune to him a little.

Will started to button his shirt. “Eh, I never liked this tie anyway.”

“That’s not the point.” She knew what he was going to do before he did it. College Will imposed himself over the adult Will and put his hands up.

“Don’t do that,” she said. “God, Will. I hated it in college, and it’s even less attractive now.”

Will grimaced and dropped his hands. “What is going on with you?”

“The apartment is a mess,” Hannah said in a huff. “I’m not a neat freak by any means, but this isn’t your all-expenses-paid bachelor pad anymore.”

If her words had bothered him, Will didn’t let his reaction show it. Instead, he looked back into the living room, his eyes narrowing into slits as he stared at their home. “I can see if—”

“We are not bringing Clara in for a second day,” Hannah said, making sure her tone left no room for negotiation.

This time, Will did take a step back, though his hands remained at his sides. Hannah watched him consider his answer, his brow furrowing in thought. If she’d been in a better mood, she would’ve found it sexy.

“Is this about the mess or the money?” he asked finally.

Wow. Just wow. Hannah brushed past him without saying a word. She wound her way through the mess and into their bedroom, which was surprisingly tidy. Will had this thing about making the bed every morning, as if he started his day that way, he would do all the other things he was supposed to throughout the day. As if indeed. She pulled the first thing her hands touched out of the closet and then locked herself in the bathroom, which was still steamy from Will’s shower. The sound of the running water blocked out any remaining noises from the apartment, including Will coming into the bedroom. She heard him knock on the bathroom door, but she couldn’t talk to him now.

Was it the money or the mess? One of Will’s ties cost more than most of Hannah’s outfits, his bathroom was nearly as big as her bedroom in Queens, and yes, having a cleaning lady chafed at Hannah’s sense of adulthood, but it wasn’t the money. It was the lack of respect for the money.

Fifteen minutes later—five of which she had spent sitting on the vanity, scrolling through overpriced secondhand Wilderness tickets—Hannah emerged from the bedroom feeling steadier. Will had heard her, and maybe calmer heads could prevail. She expected him to be gone. He’d been leaving earlier and earlier for work all week. But when she stepped into the messy living room, the stacks of paper had been organized into two piles that only took up a corner of the table. The sound of water running pulled her toward the kitchen. Will stood at the sink, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbow.

“What are you still doing here?” she asked.

Will glanced over at her. “I told Jim I’d be later than usual.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I think maybe I did.” His tone had an edge to it, but it wasn’t exactly anger or contrition. Either way, it wasn’t particularly on the nice side. She’d annoyed him.

“Can I help?” she asked instead of pressing the issue.

He held out a towel. “Dry?”

She accepted it and picked up a frying pan from the rack. They worked side by side in silence for a few minutes, Will handwashing dishes that could’ve gone in the dishwasher and Hannah drying them and putting them away.

He handed her the final coffee mug, her own from this morning. “I did ask Clara to stop back in today, if she could, to finish cleaning up. I figured that would give us a fresh starting point.”

Hannah nodded. They were both busy. It made sense to only have to keep the apartment clean, not clean it from scratch. And they had at least tackled the dishes together. They could get into habits. They could make this apartment their own with baby steps. It had only been three weeks, and the first few days, they hadn’t even been in the state.

She dropped the towel over the empty dish rack. “I’d like to unpack this weekend.”

“That sounds like a great idea.” Will shucked off his shirt, which was practically see-through with dishwater. She averted her gaze. “Why not start tonight?”

Before Hannah could answer that she’d have to trek out to the Stone Pony and back tonight, Will shook his head. “Right, you have to go out to Jersey tonight. Anything I can unpack for you?”

“It can wait another day.”

He kissed her softly on the lips. The gesture shocked and thrilled her with its simplicity and care. “Then it’s a date.”

Chapter 25Will

“No, Frank. I’m a lawyer, not an environmental specialist. Send me the report, and I’ll let you know if I think there are any legal tie-ups.” Will doodled a spiral in his notebook, his tenth in this dragging conversation. He listened to the man’s continued request. “I’m not a project manager. I don’t need to visit the site. Just send me the report.”

He hung up, writing a note next to the newest spiral to follow up in two days. Frank was notorious for requesting unnecessary site visits, and when the higher-ups declined, he always tried to get Will to visit. It was a flaw that kept him from getting promoted, but no amount of encouragement from Will, who had come up through the ranks with him, increased his confidence. Will turned back to his computer, where a list of overpriced tickets to the Wilderness Weekend show waited. He would buy them for that cost just to see the look on Hannah’s face when the first notes of “Away From You” filled the venue, but she’d been