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“Just, you know, I had one of those days when we broke up.”

“What do you mean, one of those days?” another one asked.

“Well, I got into a car accident. It was minor and not my fault, but they wanted to clear me. When I was getting checked out at the ER, I was a little out of it, and he was flirting with the medical assistant. In front of me.”

Glossy black hair narrowed her eyes. “Oh, not appropriate.”

“Right? Like, totally not appropriate. So we broke up.”

“That’s a really good reason to break up,” another woman added.

“Very good, in fact. Anyway, here I am.” I shrugged.

“So don’t text him. Why are you thinking about it?” glossy black hair prompted.

“Because he texted me.” I fished my phone back out of my pocket and held it up.

“Would you like us to block his number for you?” another woman asked.

“Do you all know each other?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Two of them nodded while the rest shook their heads. “Bathroom advice is always the best,” one piped up.

“Clearly. Okay, I’m not going to text him back. You can block his number.” I handed my phone over to glossy hair.

“Should I send a last text telling him to fuck all the way off?” she asked.

“You can say whatever you want,” I offered.

I trusted her completely, even though I didn’t even know her name. She held my phone up for me to unlock it with my face, pulled the text up, and tapped something out. She glanced at me, one brow arching high.

“Wow, I always wanted to be able to do that,” I said.

“Do what?”

“The one brow thing. I can’t do that.”

She grinned. “Would you like to see my text before I hit send?”

“No need, I trust you completely with this.”

She hit send and blocked his number. “You want to see what I said?”

“Yes, please.” We all gathered round. Her text read: Be so for real, fuck all the way off.

We collectively high-fived, and I made my way out. I hadn’t really wanted to reply to his text. It’s just that our breakup stung, even now. I’d felt incredibly small ever since that day. It just sucked. Making my way back to my hotel, I mentally braced myself for my return home tomorrow.

It was so not the glorious homecoming I had imagined. Despite that, tomorrow I was headed back to Willow Brook, Alaska, my hometown and the location of my shiny new job.

“Hey, hey, sis.” My brother Ranger pulled me into one of his bear hugs. He was a good hugger. Always had been. He ruffled my hair as he set me down. “Looking good, Eden.”

“Thanks, dude. Should I call you dude or Range or Ranger? What are we doing now?”

“Whatever you want to call me. I answer to all,” he teased.

I rolled my eyes.

“You’re coming with me,” he said next.