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“You’ve already done way too much for me, T.”
“And you’ve done a million things for me. That’s friendship, Charlotte. In fact, we both know you’ve done far more amazing things for me than I could ever repay you for. I wouldn’t even be with Ryan now, if it weren’t for you.” She pauses to look at the phone in her hand. “My friend just replied. He says he’ll bring a crew here tomorrow morning at seven and they’ll handle everything. Not to worry.”
With Lucky still in my lap, I lean over and rest my temple on Tessa’s shoulder. “Thank you. I’ll repay you after I sell or rent the place out. I promise.”
“Absolutely not,” she replies. “Consider this my housewarming gift.”
“I love you so much.”
“I love you, too. It’s going to be okay.”
I sit up and wipe my cheeks, and that’s when I realize Auggie is now staring down at me, his mouth hanging open. “Lucky’s terrified of strangers,” he murmurs. “He won’t even let my brother touch him.”
I pat Lucky’s head. “Go on, buddy. You’d better go back to your mean, heartless, petty daddy now. Big surprise, he doesn’t like you comforting me.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m thrilled Lucky’s comforting you. I’m just shocked, that’s all.” When I don’t speak because I’m feeling too beaten down to muster a reply, Auggie’s features soften in sympathy. “I’m sorry your place is such a mess. You didn’t know that was coming?”
I shake my head. “I knew the place would require some deep cleaning and fixing up. But, no, I didn’t expect the place to bethisbad.” I push Lucky gently off me and stand up, and Lucky hops over to Auggie’s feet. “I’ll be okay,” I say, brushing off my jeans. “Thanks for your concern.”
Auggie picks up Lucky. “If you need anything, I’m just a door away.”
“Don’t remind me.” It’s a bitchy thing to say, given his kind tone, but there’s no bite to my delivery. Suddenly, what happened with Auggie this morning feels like the least of my worries.
“I’ll leave you alone now. Bye, ladies.”
“Bye, Auggie,” Tessa replies. “It was nice to meet you.”
“You, too.”
With that, Auggie disappears into his unit next-door with Lucky bopping happily behind him—and to my surprise, he doesn’t flash me a single scowl or glare before shutting the door.
“Okay, my love,” Tessa says, clapping her palms together, “my friend gave us an assignment. He told me to rent a storage facility for tomorrow for all this stuff. He said the crew will throw away any obvious trash, but everything else will be boxed up and put into storage, so you can go through it at your convenience later and see if there’s anything worth keeping or selling.”
The tiniest tingles of hope prickle at my soul. “That’s a great idea.”
“He’s a pro. I’m sure there’s a storage place close by, considering how close we are to campus.”
“Let’s do it.”
Tessa taps on her phone and quickly finds a storage facility only two miles away, and just that fast, I’m no longer wallowing in self-pity. I’m a woman on a mission, thanks to Tessa.
As we head toward the elevator, Tessa says, “After we get the storage unit, do you have time to get the kids with me and take them out for ice cream cones?”
“Are you kidding? I’ve got nothing but time till the crew works their magic. And, yes, I’d love to eat my feelings with my three favorite people.”
We reach the elevator, and Tessa presses the call button.
“Auggie’s kinda cute,” she says. She’s playing it cool. I know her well enough to know she wanted to deliver that sentence with a whole lot more enthusiasm than that.
“Girl, don’t even try to make Auggie a thing. Even if I were to somehow bury the hatchet with him, which is highly unlikely, he’s way too good looking and squeaky clean for me. The sex would be mediocre, at best.”
“You don’t know that. Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
I snicker to myself. Tessa obviously thinks I’m assumingAuggiewould be terrible in bed. Which he probably is. Hot guys don’t have the same work ethic in bed as their ugly-hot counterparts. That’s a scientific fact. But in this instance, I was actually referring to the little secret I’ve never admitted to anyone: namely, that I can’t let go enough, sexually, when my partner is too hot and therefore makes me feel self-conscious.
“Auggie likes you, Charlotte,” Tessa teases, as we step into the elevator.
“No, Auggie hates me.”
