More Than Friends Read Free

they shared. Sometimes she resented the fact that Kendall would always keep a part of herself from her—a part she shared only with Evelyn and her fellow officers.
     
    *
     
    “Football still on for Sunday?” Evelyn asked as she paused next to her sleek black coupe.
    “Absolutely.” Kendall punched Evelyn’s upper arm. “See if you can cover up that bruise. Richard’s bringing his cousin and I hear she’s cute. We don’t want her to think you’re some kind of barbarian.”
    “Yeah, okay.” Evelyn lowered herself into the car. “See you guys later.” She closed the door and started the car. The dark window tint hid her from view as she zipped toward the parking-lot exit.
    Melanie pulled her keys from her pocket and disengaged the locks on her truck.
    “Want me to drive?” Kendall asked.
    “I’ve got it.” She climbed into the big Dodge. Her pickup didn’t represent her in quite the way Evelyn’s sport car fit her. She viewed her vehicle as a necessary convenience, given her frequent need to haul supplies. On occasion, she drooled over a hot little convertible, but she couldn’t justify the payment on an extra car that neither of them would drive very often.
    “You know Evelyn hates when you try to fix her up,” she said as Kendall settled into the passenger seat. She turned out of the parking lot and headed toward their house.
    “Did she say that?”
    “Not specifically. But I get the impression—”
    “Whatever. If I see a hot chick, why shouldn’t I try to get them together? She’ll thank me someday when I introduce her to her soul mate. Hell, a few have been so hot, she should have thanked me even though they didn’t work out.”
    “Yeah. Are you living vicariously through her?”
    “Now why would I need to do that, when I’ve got my soul mate right here?” Kendall laid her hand on Melanie’s thigh.
    She glanced down, then over at Kendall. The words were perfect, but sometimes Kendall seemed to say what she thought Melanie expected to hear. Though she couldn’t put her finger on why, they hadn’t been connecting for over a year now. They’d talked about what might be the problem and vowed to try harder, each saying she would put work aside and make time just for the two of them. But before long they fell back into the same pattern.
    Soul mate. She remembered a time when she wouldn’t have questioned using such a phrase to describe her relationship with Kendall. When they’d first started dating they planned for a future, growing old and retiring together. Now, when their schedules were so misaligned that they hardly spent any time together, she had trouble bringing that long-term vision into focus.
    “Melanie? Where did you go?”
    “I’m sorry. I’ve been distracted today.”
    “Not just today.” Petulance colored Kendall’s tone.
    She scrubbed a hand over her face and concentrated on the road in front of her. Arguing wouldn’t get them anywhere, so she ignored Kendall’s comment. She couldn’t handle another conversation that led them in circles. Hopefully they were just going through a normal cycle that long-term partners experienced and would figure out how to pull themselves out of it.

Chapter Two
     
    “Hello, anyone home?” Evelyn called as she opened the front door to Melanie and Kendall’s ground floor apartment and went inside. The living room was empty but had obviously been arranged for the party. An assortment of folding chairs clustered among the couch and loveseat, each one angled toward the television over the fireplace.
    “I’m in the kitchen.”
    She followed Melanie’s voice and found her peering inside the oven. The countertop was already littered with “football food”: a tray of veggies and dip, two bowls of chips, and cocktail wieners in a spicy sauce.
    “Early as usual.” Melanie glanced up and smiled.
    “Hey, I don’t want to miss anything,” she said as she eased past Melanie on her way to the fridge. She slid a six-pack of beer into