“I wouldn’t say it was running away.”
“What would you call it then?”
“Changing.” Josh said the word as if it was simple. “For the better. So, yeah, eating noodles across the world and stuffing my face full of various desserts definitely made me a better person. A better life liver.”
“Life liver?” I questioned.
“It’s a word.”
“I don’t doubt you,” I said. “Wasn’t it scary though? Taking such a risk?”
“I figure that’s half the fun, Bri. You should know that. You took the biggest risk of us all straight out of school and look at you now.”
“Look at me now? Broke in the city, living with my best friend and her brother.”
“Living in the city.”
Be grateful.
Be happy.
“And eating pretty decent wings with me,” he added.
That was, oddly enough, more than good right now. It was one of the best feelings I’d had in a while since I’d arrived. Not so … alone.
Not responding, I took the moment to eat a piece of neglected celery off to the side.
It felt nice to talk with Josh. More than nice. Yet still, I couldn’t help but think of our last conversation we’d had years ago. That, too, was hanging over me with a new wave of awkwardness.
“Josh?” I debated asking him if he remembered. If … he … I didn’t know what, but I just wanted to …
“Hey!”
A tall figure cut between us before I even had time to register what was happening. One broad arm clapped around Josh’s shoulders with the force of a reunion long overdue.
“Good to see you, man! How’ve you been?”
Josh blinked, then broke into a grin. “Hunter. Wow. Hey, man. It’s been a minute.”
“I was uptown for a late meeting,” Hunter explained, already making himself at home as he leaned slightly over the table. “Figured I’d catch the end of the game here. Not like I missed much though.”
Josh shook his head, chuckling. “Yeah, this one’s been a bit of a snooze.”
Then Hunter’s eyes landed on me. His suit, dark and sleek, screamed finance—or something adjacent to it. I could practically see the old photos Gina used to show me of Josh during his corporate days. The same clean lines. The same city-boy edge.
Hunter nudged Josh, smirking. “And who’s this?”
Josh didn’t look at me right away. “This is Brielle. She’s friends with my sister.”
Hunter’s grin grew wide. “Ohhhh, look at you. Keeping it in the family, huh? I told you, you weren’t going to be the one who ended up alone out of the lot of us.”
I raised my brows. Was there a bet?
Josh let out a small, tight laugh. “No, it’s not—we’re not together.”
The way he said it though, clipped and quick, sent a weird jolt through me. Like he was trying to clean something up or shoo me away like I was someone who jumped up onstage drunk to sing karaoke and he assured the people at the bar,I don’t know her.
“We pretty much grew up together. She’s practically another sister.”
