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I put Max out of my mind. But that’s easier said than done since once we’ve ordered at our favorite diner, Josie turns to me and says thoughtfully, “Your makeover project is almost over, and it looks like you’ve pulled it off. The perception of Max is way more positive lately.”
“You’ve been checking?”
She gives me a look likewhat did you expect. “I’m a librarian. I like information. I like understanding things.So yes, I did a little poking around into how the Max image makeover was going.”
“I love you,” I say with a laugh.
She preens, then says, “I know.”
Fable looks my way. “Maybe that makesyouthe kickass movie heroine who takes down bad images in a single bound.”
Maeve shrugs happily. “Whatever you’re running for, Everly—you have my vote.”
Their support, both of my efforts in pole, but also with work, lifts me up. Makes me think I really can take the next step. And because they are such unapologetic friends, I don’t need to call upon Herculean strength to say the next thing. In fact, it’s really easy to tell them what I told Max last night, “I think I’m going to try to talk to my boss about that whole unwritten rule.”
Maeve’s hazel eyes sparkle. “And you’re going to smash it,” she says excitedly.
“We’re here for you,” Fable says, and I think that’s exactly what I needed to hear.
“Yes, we are,” Josie seconds.
“You’ve got this,” Maeve adds. “Because you two have that no-question-about-it love.”
I pause, tilting my head. “I didn’t use the L-word.”
Maeve smiles. “My sweet summer child, you didn’t have to.”
“Is it just that obvious?”
Josie snort-laughs. “Like an open book.”
But Maeve sighs contemplatively, her eyes a little dreamy. “With love, I don’t think you handle it. It handles you. It’s like a painting you’re working on, and you think you’re making the art but really the art’s making you.”
I let that soak in—the idea that there’s an inescapabilityto love. With Max, I feel like there’s a riot in my heart, and I can’t do a damn thing to stop it. Still, I want to be prepared. “So what happens next in thisinescapablelove story? When I go into the office and talk to my boss?”
Maeve reaches into her bag and takes out her tarot deck. “I could ask Tatiana?”
Fable stares at her, too amused. “You named your deck?”
“Of course I did,” she says, then shuffles and proceeds to draw—rather deliberately— the Three of Cups, an image of three maidens holding up three chalices. There are four of us here, but it feels like Tatiana knows something. “Tatiana says we’re here for you, babe,” Maeve says.
“We are,” Josie and Fable echo.
Maybe that’s some of the strength I needed too.
After I shower and get ready for a game night, I slide on the panties Max sent me, admiring the way I look in them. Claimed. Then I take a very sexy selfie.
Everly: Some pre-game inspo.
Max: I fucking love them. And I have never been more inspired in my life.
That evening I’m watching from the press box as Max maneuvers a puck around the trapezoid, flipping it to Miles, who tears off down the ice. For a few seconds, Ithink Max might get another assist, but New York blocks Miles’s shot and one of their forwards gets the rebound.
The New York forward flies down the ice, trying to score on a breakaway. But my sexy beast of a goalie drops to his knees, leg pads spreading out to the sides, saving the goal.
I gasp audibly. “Yes,” I say with a quiet fist pump.
Someone gently nudges me.
