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I wasn’t sure what you preferred, so I had a friend deliver a little bit of everything.
You always looked edible in green.
I brush the tears away with the back of my left hand as guilt invades my gut, making it twist and churn with anxiety.
I don’t deserve this.
The feeling is further compounded when I finally pick up my phone for the first time since yesterday morning.
Anna
You’re setting yourself up for disappointment, Summer.
Nausea swirls in the pit of my stomach, knowing she’s right. I should have come clean the moment he stepped out of his front door, but I’m in too deep now.
And, even as I know all of this, there’s a small voice inside of me telling me to take this happiness while I can. To be selfish for once.
He’s going to hate you regardless. Might as well soak in the last of his love…
My self-deprecation is put on hold when I hear voices in the studio beneath me. Female voices that move through the studio and up the stairwell, coming closer.
Two women enter the space. One with curly black hair, the other with flame red hair, both bickering like an old married couple.
“Hesaidto be here twenty damn minutes ago, Josie!”
The black-haired woman shakes her short curls. “And I said he called last minute, so he’ll get what he gets, Nola. He’s lucky I even answered—”
She stops short when her bright blue eyes land on me, blowing wide in the process.
The flame-haired beauty—Nola, I’m assuming—turns a smirking face to her companion. “Twenty minutes, I said. Look who was right,as usual.”
Josie recovers in a nanosecond, striding forward with her palm extended. “Hey, Blondie, I’m Josie.” She indicates her companion with her thumb. “This is Stupid. She’sclearlywith me.”
Nola rolls her eyes, and I try my hardest not to laugh at their banter, barely muffling a snort.
“We are here to make sure you have the most wonderful evening with our very own Caden.” Josie wiggles her eyebrows, and without meaning to, some of the mirth falls from my face.
Both women pick up on it, and Nola rushes forward. “Oh no, no, no. It’s not how she made it sound. Caden is ourfriend. Our best friend is married to his best friend, Henry.”
Josie nods voraciously. “He’s lovely and all, but he doesn’t have the right…equipment for us. Right, Nola?”
And the penny drops.
I exhale a breath I didn’t realise I was holding as both girls giggle at my assumptions. “Sorry, Josie.” I nod at the woman in question before turning my contrite eyes to Nola. “I apologise for making assumptions.”
Both women nod and smile widely, but I continue. “Also, regardless of my reaction just now, there’s nothing between Caden and me.”
Nola’s eyes widen impossibly as she nods. “Of…ofcourse, Summer. We would never think—”
Josie cuts her off, sending me a face filled with disbelief. “Giiiiiiiiirl, you can lie to yourselfallyou like. The man is hook, line, and sinker for you. The picture in his foyer tells everyone who enters his homeexactlywhere his heart is at.”
I inhale sharply, both appreciating this woman’s honesty while hating it at the same time.
“So, do me a favour while we’re here at his request, yeah?”
Powerless to do otherwise, I nod, tugging my bottom lip between my teeth to chew mercilessly.
“Don’t fill me with shit. I can see your feelings on your face, plain as fucking day. And, if I can, then you can be surehesees them too.”
