Page 165 of Manhattan Bossholes

What the hell did that mean?

Had I read the signs wrong all day? The laughter, the flirting, asking to come hang out with my dad? Was that all just her being friendly? But no, I remembered the way she’d kissed me back. She’d been on board…but then she’d gotten spooked. Had I moved too fast?

I pushed through my door, the floor-to-ceiling windows offering a sparkling view of the city after dark. It had never looked so dull. I dropped my keys on my kitchen counter, not bothering with the lights, and crossed through the open living room to collapse on the leather sofa. I pulled out my phone as it started buzzing. It wasn’t a call, but one notification after another as Trent filled the group text thread with messages.

I opened it, scanning his comments.

So I’ve finally met Cora in the flesh, he wrote. She’s indeed real.

Of course she’s real! Dom answered.

You were so right, dude. There’s definitely something going on between her and Aiden again. Those high school sparks have been rekindled. Nana Dee is going to flip when I tell her.

SEE! Dom wrote in all caps. I told you guys! I might currently be out of the game, but that doesn’t stop me from recognizing the game.

Piper wants all the details, Vincent responded immediately. Like the ‘who, what, where, when, why’ of the encounter.

Let’s just say I spent all evening in their company while doing renos at the Red Lion, and heart eyes don’t even begin to cover it.

Aww, look at our little Aiden, Dom said. Flirting with a girl over bar renos.

Shut up! Shut up! Vincent wrote. I’m transcribing for Piper in real time in case that wasn’t clear. What’s Cora like? Tell me everything!

Super nice girl, Trent wrote. Mixes a damn good cocktail apparently. Should be fun to have around at parties.

Heck yes! The moment I stop breastfeeding I’m taking Cora and Chloe out for drinks, Vincent wrote, still obviously transcribing what Piper was saying. Considering they had a newborn, didn’t they have better things to do than hang out in the group chat?

Trent sent a thumbs-up. My favorite thing is that she doesn’t take any of Aiden’s shit. Like…at all. I’ve never seen our boy so flustered. Not even with Steph when we were back at school.

I grimaced at the mention of my college girlfriend. What a train wreck that had turned out to be.

Hmm…Dominic wrote. I’ve been busy with Hailey lately, but I distinctly noticed less bickering in the office, so things must be progressing in a good direction between them.

Frankly, I don’t know what she sees in Aiden. He almost hammered a nail into his thumb tonight. Trent followed this up with a winky emoji.

Be nice to him, Vincent wrote. Piper’s words, not mine.

That’s awesome, Paul said, jumping into the conversation and tagging me personally. Chloe and I look forward to meeting her soon.

My hand tightened around my phone. I could see it all so clearly. Cora would get along great with the guys, and I just knew Piper and Chloe would click with her in no time at all. To say nothing of Nana Dee, who was bound to adore her. But I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. Cora didn’t seem sure where she wanted things between us to go. As for me…well, I wasn’t sure either. The relationship had ended pretty badly last time. But that was then, this was now. We were older, wiser—not the same dumb kids we used to be.

The guys kept going off, teasing me and congratulating me in equal measure. I knew it was their way of being supportive, but with things so up in the air between me and Cora, there was only so much of it I could take. I muted the chat, preparing to toss my phone aside, but that wouldn’t get Cora and tonight off my mind.

Instead, I opened Elixir’s social media pages, scrolling through the company’s accounts on X and Instagram and TikTok and Snug, checking to see where Elixir had been tagged. I tried to keep my scrolling work-focused at first, but on my X Pro dashboard, my eye caught on the column where I followed former classmates. I noticed a lot of my classmates were posting old high school pictures in preparation for the reunion. Some of the photos were grainy, clearly stolen from someone’s mom’s photo album.

I scrolled through them. It was like entering a time machine as I was dragged headlong into memories. God, it felt like a million years ago. Like this world belonged to a different Aiden.

I supposed it did.

Look at everything I’d accomplished since those days. Two successful companies. An award-winning liquor brand. More money than I could spend in a lifetime.

I paused my scroll as a familiar flash of red caught my eye. I zoomed in. It was exactly what I thought. Cora and I were in the background of someone else’s photo, walking down the hall, holding hands. I was probably on my way to drop her off at her history class. We gazed at each other in the photo, so focused on one another we didn’t even realize the camera was there. I wasn’t surprised. I remembered feeling so head over heels for her, almost as if I was in a constant freefall. Sort of like the moment our lips connected tonight. Warmth settled over me. This was a good memory, one I hadn’t let myself think about for a long time.

I kept scrolling, slower now, coming upon a picture from my football days. The senior team stood there, caught mid-celebration after a game. No. I looked closer, spotting the scoreboard. This wasn’t just a game. This was the game. The one where I’d lost my temper, very nearly lost control of myself. The one that was the whole reason I’d had to break up with Cora.

But that was a long time ago, I reminded myself. I was only a kid then, so charged on hormones and adrenaline that I didn’t know which way was up. I didn’t need to worry about anything like that happening now.

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