“Hey,” Silas replied, turning around to lean his back against the glass as he returned her smile. “You sure I’m in the right place?” he teased as he watched her progress around the room. If he had known that the space heater was there –great observational skills- he would’ve flipped it on. Not that it would have mattered much, since he hadn’t been there that long before Rae showed up.
He heard what she’d said, but was thrown from answering when he caught a look at her once she’d removed her coat. He felt a little bit like an idiot just standing there, staring at her, so he opened his mouth to respond finally, but what he’d meant to say wasn’t what came out. “You look amazing.” Tumbled out instead, and he hoped she didn’t immediately catch the way he’d looked her over. He was allowed to look though; there was no harm in that. “Really fucking amazing.” And maybe it wasn’t an entirely friendly compliment, but if he knew anything about women, it was that they usually deserved to know when all the trouble they’d gone through to look good was appreciated.
“If I’d known there was a dress code…” he trailed off, “I wouldn’t have worn this.” His jeans and work boots definitely weren’t formal wear.
Shaking himself out of the stunned stupor, he finally addressed her comment. “Saw him earlier. Me and Stone ambushed his cell, and well, he didn’t seem like he was much for celebrating.” Regan had finally found an answer, and it hadn’t been a good one. Then they had had to add to that by breaking the news about Mike. “And I wanted to be here with you,” he admitted with a shrug, like it wasn’t a big deal. Or a confession.
“He’ll understand that I didn’t want to reschedule,” he added, hoping to avoid Rae feeling any guilt over the fact that he was here with her and not with his friend. “Reg’s great like that.” And yeah, Silas felt like shit about the fact that his friend was hurting, but there was nothing he could do about it. Regan had to mourn. He didn’t want it to bring down his night though, selfish as that sounded.
He’d be there for Regan tomorrow, and the days after; but Silas wanted tonight to himself, to enjoy Rae’s company.
Straightening from the window frame, he crossed the small space. “Need help with setting this stuff up?” he asked, an attempt at not so subtly changing the subject.