“We have some things to hash out on Monday, but… I still have a job. And she’s green-lit my offer for Sheridan.”
He breaks into an eye-crinkling grin and pushes to his feet, drawing me into a hug as soon as I’m within reach. “That’s awesome.”
I sink into his chest, pressing my face into the hollow of his throat and inhaling that woodsy scent I’ve already grown so fond of.
“I’m so happy for you,” he says with his chin propped on top of my head.
“Thank you,” I mumble into his chest.
I pull back and push the door open wider, wordlessly inviting him back inside.
I heave a great big sigh of relief and collapse onto the bed, then reach with grabby hands for Adam to join me. He kicks off those ridiculous boat shoes and climbs on, propping himself up on one elbow.
“When we get back to LA, I want to take you out to celebrate.”
“Well, I did agree to dinner.”
He smirks and rolls on top of me. “Maybe I want to take you to the botanical gardens first.”
“Hmm,” I manage, distracted by the feeling of his stubble against my neck.
“I want to take you to dinner, and the movies, and the zoo, and the beach, and a million other places. I want more than one date.”
“I don’t know if I mentioned, my sister is getting married in a couple weeks.”
Adam pecks my cheek, then pushes himself back to gaze down at me. I run my hands up his arms, gripping his biceps. “Yeah, I think I remember something about that.”
“So you probably recall that I don’t have a date.”
“What about Iris’s dog?”
“Oh yeah, she will fully be a third wheel. So you want to go with me?”
Adam shifts his weight so he can grab my left hand, lacing our fingers together above my head. He dips down to kiss me, soft and slow, and when his answer comes, it’s in a whisper against my lips:
“I do.”
EPILOGUEELEANOR
I’m not entirely sure how I was convinced to come back to Las Vegas. One would think after my last experience in Sin City, I would have had the good sense to stay away. And yet. Here I am. In the strip club, no less, sipping on a cocktail Tyler ordered for me. I’m not sure what’s in it, but… a lot of vodka, would be my first guess.
At least this time I’m not going to spend half the visit stuck inside a conference hall and the other half running around the city on the knife’s edge of an anxiety attack.
No, this time I am here to have fun.
Which I am. I’m having a great time. I’m surrounded by all of my closest friends, watching a dancer who is legitimately one of the most attractive people I’ve ever seen in real life slide down the pole wearing only a pair of mesh boy shorts. I’m pleasantly buzzed, but not too far gone—I won’t be making that mistake again—and for once, everything feels like it’s falling into place.
I have a job I love, working for a woman I respect. I have a new apartment with floors that are only a little bit crooked, and a new roommate who has become my very best friend in the world. And I’m on vacation, staying in a posh hotel suite Iris booked, using some combination of sweet talk and sorcery to get us an unbelievably low rate. She acquired this negotiating superpower while planning her wedding, and she jumps at any chance to put it to use.
The point is, everything is exactly how I want it to be. Exactly how Iris and I planned it. So I have no good reason to feel so restless.
While the woman onstage collects her tips and the DJ introduces the next dancer, I pull out my phone. I keep it low by my hip, so that none of the bouncers see it and confiscate it. So that Tyler doesn’t confiscate it, for that matter.
I bite my lip and find Adam’s name. Take another sip of my cocktail.
I miss you, I type out, and hit send.
I stare at the screen as three dots appear, hovering at the bottom of our text chain. I wait, ignoring the new dancer who comes onstage, even as Iris and Tyler lose their minds over her impressive climb up the pole.
