“Besides,” Olivia says, raising a bag in the air. “We brought food.”
It’s only then that I notice their hands are full of takeout bags and drink carriers. I spot the logo for my favorite Chinese restaurant, the one Declan ordered from the night we sat on my couch and he opened up to me about his past. A choked sob escapes me and five pairs of wide, panicked eyes exchange concerned looks.
“Fine,” I groan. “Let’s do this.”
“Should we –” Ty begins, and I wave a hand to stop him.
“You guys can stay. What are three more witnesses to my misery?”
“Misery?” Grace demands. “You’remiserableand haven’t said a word to us about it?”
“I was going to,” I mutter, ignoring her accusatory gaze as I lock both doors and turn off the neon pinkopensign that hangs in the front window.
Noah directs our friends to put the food and drinks on the big workspace in the middle of the room. If I had been paying attention, I might have noticed that he had already cleaned the surface of all the clipped stems, fallen petals and various tools that we used throughout the day. We usually save cleanup for after closing.
While Olivia and Cam unpack the containers of food, Noah and Ty grab extra stools from the greenhouse. Grace busies herself setting plates, chopsticks and drinks around the table. It doesn’t escape my notice that she leaves the side facing the shop next doorempty. Even without my saying so, my friends must know that whatever is going on has to do with Declan.
“Sit,” Grace orders me, pulling out a stool on the side of the table that leaves me facing the front of the shop. It’s still early by summertime standards, and though some shops like ours are already closed, the sidewalks are full of tourists bustling past.
I grab the drink in front of my seat and take a sip. Of course, it’s lemonade. My favorite.
Once everyone is seated, we pass the containers around the table and load up our plates. It’s a small reprieve from the reckoning I know is coming.
Sure enough, I’ve just taken my first bite of spicy wonton when Grace begins with, “So. What the fuck is going on?”
“Grace,” Olivia chides.
“What?” She shrugs, nonplussed. “Something is wrong. We can’t help if we don’t know what it is.”
“I assume this has something to do with your almost-boyfriend,” Ty says.
“Why do we assume that?” Cam mumbles around a mouthful of fried rice.
“She hasn’t so much as looked next door in two days,” Noah points out, the traitor. When my eyes narrow on him again, he shakes his head. “Don’t give me that look. I want to help and I needed reinforcements.”
“Talk to us,” Olivia says softly. “We want to help.”
I chew in silence for a few moments. The food from Lucky Dragon is always delicious, but I could be chewing on cardboard for all it matters right now. Nerves have me choking down the rest of my wonton before I answer.
“Declan and I kind of broke up,” I blurt out. Olivia gasps and one of Ty’s chopsticks clatters to the floor. “Or whatever you want to call it,” I hastily add. “We weren’t technically dating to begin with.”
“Don’t give us thistechnicallybullshit,” Grace argues. “Label or not, you guys were headed somewhere serious. It’s okay to be upset over it.”
“I know.” I move some of the noodles around my plate with my chopsticks, though I don’t take a bite. My stomach sours at the thought.
“What happened?” Cam prods. “And when?”
“At your wedding,” I admit.
“At thewedding?” Olivia cries. “How did I miss this?”
I smile across the table at her, or at least I try to; the movement feels foreign on my face right now. “You were a little preoccupied.”
“I’m going to need you to provide some context here,” Grace says. She grabs an egg roll from the container and takes a big bite. “How did you manage to break up without any of us realizing it?”
“Start at the beginning, please,” Noah begs.
So I do. I tell them about my minor freak-out on the dance floor when Declan tried to kiss me, and how I ran off to the bathroom to get my head on straight. I explain the conversation I overheard with the two women in the bathroom – which is ridiculous, now that I’m retelling it. I don’t know why it was so triggering to me at the time.
