The wooden door pushes open, and Molly pops her head in before walking all the way through. “Hey, baby bro. Hope you’re hungry!” She has two large white bags in her hands, and the aroma of Italian food wafts through my office.

“Starving. Thanks for bringing lunch. Why aren’t you at work?”

She sets the bags on the desk and we both get to work unloading everything. There’s this small, family-run restaurant down the street from the university that we love to order from. We always choose like three or four different dishes, and just split it, eating a little bit of everything.

“I had a doctor’s appointment, so I took the afternoon off, but the appointment was canceled—the doctor was out sick.”

“Is everything okay?” I ask her, while opening the container that holds the chicken Alfredo. My mouth waters as I look at it.

“I don’t know. I’m sure she just has the flu or something.”

She opens the container holding the chicken parmesan, smiling like a madwoman as she opens her utensils.

“No, dumbass. Is everything okay with you?”

“Oh!” She laughs, which makes me laugh. “Yeah, I’m good. Yearly check-up.”

We both dig in, eating in comfortable silence for a while. The food is fucking delicious, and I skipped breakfast on accident, so I could eat a horse. In addition to the Alfredo and chicken parmesan, she also picked up spaghetti and meatballs, and enough breadsticks to feed a tiny army.

“So, how’s things?” she asks in between bites, brow quirked.

“Eh, not too bad. Things at work have been busy, but not too stressful. I spent my entire morning in meetings. What about you?”

“Kind of shitty, to be honest. One of the nurses at the clinic quit without any notice, and we just took on a new doctor, so patients have picked up. I’m slammed constantly, and I don’t even know if the office manager plans to replace the nurse that left.”

“Damn, I’m sorry, Mol.”

“It’s okay. I’ll get through it. Julian is out of town this week on a club run.” She rolls her eyes. She’s supportive of him and the club, but I know sometimes it can be draining on her.

“Do you want to come over to my house for dinner tonight instead of me going to yours? You can sleep over if you want, and we can order pizza, so you don’t have to cook.”

“Sure, that sounds nice.” She smiles, but it’s tired and doesn’t quite meet her eyes.

A knocking sounds from my door. I don’t know who it could be because I wasn’t expecting anyone.

“Come in.”

My stomach jumps to my throat when none other than Cash peeks his head around the door. I don’t miss the way his cheeks pink slightly when his gaze lands on Molly.