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“Britta?”
“Mhm?”
“How much longer do you think it’ll take for you to get sick of me?”
Britta closed the gardening magazine she’d been halfheartedly leafing through and cast it onto the coffee table in front of her. “What makes you think I’m not sick of you already?”
Her tone was clearly sarcastic, but Jeff still looked up from his laptop to glare across the living room at where she was currently laying on his couch. “I mean it, Britts. Aren’t you bored of this?”
Britta outright rolled her eyes at him. “Jeff. I’d rather spend hours sitting in silence with you than go out and do pretty much anything else with anyone else.”
“Sure, but-”
“I’m 34! You think I really wanna go through all of the getting-to-know-you bullshit required to make a new best friend?” She paused, but didn’t give Jeff quite enough time to properly respond. “Absolutely not! It would take a whole seven years for anyone to even come close to catching up to you.”
Jeff stared at her silently for a moment. She stared right back, like she was issuing some sort of challenge.
“But why?” he asked eventually.
“Why what?”
“Why are you so happy with… this?”
“Are you not?”
“I am.”
Britta let out a frustrated huff. “Then why don’t you believe that I am too? That I genuinely like spending time with you?”
“Because. I’m me.”
“C’mon, Jeff. I thought we were past this self-deprecating shit.”
He blinked. “Oddly blunt of you.”
Britta shrugged. “If you don’t understand how much I love you yet, I’m not sure if you ever will.”
“I know you love me. I just feel like everyone else who’s ever loved me gets bored of me at some point. And you’ve stuck around the longest.”
“Well, they all must’ve been way lamer than I am.”
Jeff couldn’t help but let out a short laugh. “I mean…I’m not sure if I can argue with that.”
“Then don’t.”
They stared at each other for another moment before Jeff tipped his head to one side, gave a soft hum, and returned his attention to his computer screen. Britta picked up her magazine and flicked it open with far more dramatic flair than was called for, and they were plunged into a contented silence once more.