“It’ll get less weird with time,” River suggested. “And if you’re keeping my sweater, can I keep that shirt you left at my place?”
“I have a few shirts at your place, I think.”
“The purple Nike one.”
“Oh, that’s my favorite shirt. How did you end up with it?” Lacey laughed.
“I wore it home once and just never returned it.”
“You kept it in your drawer? You little thief!”
Lacey continued to laugh as she tossed the small couch pillow at her.
River caught it and asked, “So, I can keep it?”
“Fine.” Lacey’s laughter died down, and she reached for the phone. “She wants to have coffee sometime this week if I do.”
“A date?”
“No. She said specifically that it wouldn’t be a date because I’m with you, and she knows that. Just coffee between two people figuring things out.”
Lacey turned the phone to her to read the message.
“Say yes, Lace.” River nodded. “To at least the figuring it out part. Tell her about us.”
“And what about you?”
“Well, Kennedy has my number, but I don’t exactly have any texts from her, so it might be a moot point. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be all right. In fact, I should let you go. Maybe you can call Cameron and arrange yournotdate.”
“You could always texther.”
“I could, but she might be struggling. I don’t know. Maybe she needs time. I don’t want to invade her space.”
“You can stay, River. You don’t have to rush off. I don’t need to call Cam right now. We can keep talking.”
“I will if you want, but I’m okay. I think I’d like to go home and channel my heartbreak into my work.”
“Your heart’s not broken, is it?”
“Not like that, I don’t think. But it’s still saying goodbye to something that was important in my life, so that breaks a little. It’s not breaking you?”
“No, it is. Trust me, it is. I love you, too, River. I never wanted this to happen. I thought we’d be living together by now and maybe on our way to being engaged, but that’s not going to make either of us happy.”
“No, it’s not,” she confirmed and stood up. “Come on. Hug me, damn it.”
Lacey laughed, stood up, and they pulled each other in.
“I will always be here for you. No matter what,” River said, hugging Lacey tighter.
“Me too. No matter what.”
River sniffled and felt her tears well, but she managed to keep them in and pulled out of the hug.
“Okay… Can I come back to pick up my stuff later?”
“Yeah,” Lacey said, wiping a tear from her own cheek. “Everything except this sweater.”
River laughed as she made her way to the door and confirmed, “Everything except that sweater, Lace.”
