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“Not an asshole.” I find it odd I’m saying this since I’ve called him Assface for two years.

Soph points at me with her fork. “He used to be. Has he even shared his pitch with you?”

I haven’t shared my idea yet, either.

I get defensive. “We’ve agreed to go after the job.”

“You have to get over him. Treat this like closure.” I look at her strangely. I turn to the side, trying not to roll my eyes. “Don’t with that bullshit. Just because his cock is magic doesn’t mean the rest of it is solved.”

“He didn’t ghost and neither did I. But look who’s talking? You’ve spread your legs enough, but still haven’t found that.”

She sits back and crosses her arms. “Until now,” she says.

“What’s wrong with wanting to be happy with the person I set out in this life to be happy with? Ok, there was some fighting and a decade apart, but what if we could figure this out?”

“And what if he’s using this to his advantage?”

“He’s not.”

“How do you know?”

“I know.” I look at her as she drains her drink. “Wait. Back up a sec. Did you say Dax was your happy?”

She beams as I say his name. She nods.

“Sophie!” I grab her. I’ve never known her to invest in anyone for more than a night. “Really? He’s your happy?”

“Yes. Trust me, I’m as fucking stunned as you are. But it’s like we’ve always been together. Neither of us are anxious or nervous, we’re instantly settled. And believe me, no one is more fucking shocked than me and my vagina.”

I raise my glass and my eyebrows. “I think the male population between the ages of twenty-five and sixty are in mourning a bit.”

She fills her mouth with salad and says, “Eighteen to seventy-five.”

“What the fuck?”

“I’m not ageist.”

I laugh and she winks at me.

“Dax has to be, like, ten to fifteen years younger than you.”

“Thirteen.” I choke a little on some ice. “He’s also not an ageist.”

I sit back. I can’t believe this is all shaking out like this. “And you really think I should be careful? I mean, you’re smitten with his best friend. You clearly trust his judgement—”

“I do trust his judgement, in all things vagina and Sophie. And his work. Hell, I do trust him. I think your dad fucked you up and over so much more than you’re coming to terms with.”

I shift and recross my legs to swing them out onto the sidewalk. I stare at my shitty pedicure left over from when I was just coming out to New York. He wanted me, even with chipped OPI Lincoln Park After Dark peeling off my toes.

“I went to the Boston office with Dax one day. Do you know he has targets all over the place with your name on them for Nerf gun practice? They have a notebook with pranks and things to do to us, and they’ve only done half.”

I laugh. Of course, they do. I sit back in my seat and watch the traffic for a moment. I love the hustle of a city. The noise fills all the empty spots or lulls in my life. Will he do that now?

I turn back towards her and offer up, “We have the chalkboard of ideas.”

She gestures with her fork. “True, but I’m wary of a guy who was so invested in taking you down now being so invested in you.”

“You know I can handle this, and you know how important this is to me.”