Page 23 of See You Next Tuesday

“It’s where I met Kira,” Gabe said quietly.

Kira got a little misty—but only for a second; showing emotion really wasn’t her thing.

“I love you, bud,” she said.

“You too, man.” Gabe blinked a couple of times. He’d never told Kira exactly what she meant to him, exactly why he needed her friendship so much. But that was one of the best things about her. He didn’t have to.

Laurel started talking about a race she’d worked in Madison, and Gabe’s eyes slid back over to Anya. He knew it was pathetic, how often he looked at her, but since this was the last night he’d ever be able to, he figured it didn’t really matter.

Except this time, she was looking at him too. And no matter how long he gazed at her, she didn’t look away.

Chapter 6

“Hey.” Simone tugged on Anya’s sleeve at the end of dinner. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Anya looked concerned. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s just—Kira and I were kind of hoping we could drive by ourselves over to the kayaking thing. Would you be okay to ride with Jill and Laurel?”

“Oh duh, of course!” Anya laughed. “Why would that be a big deal?”

It wasn’t until Anya climbed into the back of Jill and Laurel’s car that she realized if she wasn’t riding with Simone and Kira, it meant Gabe wasn’t either.

“Hey.” His voice was low and kind of uneven. He looked at her and then quickly away as she slid onto the seat next to him.

“Everyone good to go?” Jill asked.

“Aye aye!” Laurel replied as she hit the ceiling two times; this had become their bit over the course of the week. Laurel turned to Anya and Gabe. “So where are you heading after this? Gabe, are you gonna work inauguration?”

“Nah. I’ll go for the parties, but I think I’m gonna stay with Kira until then.”

“Oh yeah? Up in Seattle?” Jill asked.

“Yeah, her aunt has a place out on Orcas Island, so we’re gonna hang there for a while. Plus her family’s Buddhist, so it’s no big deal if I’m there over Christmas.”

Anya turned to him, which was hard since they were already pretty close together, and the car ride was fairly bumpy. “You’re not spending the holidays with your family?”

“Holidays were more of a status symbol than a family thing where I grew up.” Gabe’s voice had a note of disdain. “My parents go to their country club for Thanksgiving and St. Barth’s for Christmas.”

“Pity the poor little orphan boy!” Jill said in an exaggerated British accent, and they all laughed good-naturedly.

“You’re going home, though?” Gabe asked Anya. “To Chicago?”

“Yeah.” Anya nodded. “Wait—how do you know I’m from Chicago?”

“Wow, for someone who once accused me of having a bad memory, you don’t seem to remember much of our conversation in New Hampshire.”

“You guys knew each other in New Hampshire?” Jill interjected.

“Gabe and I met for like twenty minutes one day during the primary,” Anya explained.

“Yeah, and she liked me so much she immediately decided to move across the state to work in another office.” Gabe laughed, but the sound of it wasn’t funny.

In the front seat, Jill and Laurel exchanged a pointed look. What was that about?

“Hold up.” Laurel looked down at her phone. “Weren’t you supposed to turn left there?”

“No, I’m taking the coast road,” Jill said. “Doesn’t this run into that up ahead?”