Page 50 of Friends to WHAT?!

Chapter Twenty-Three

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What was that about growth mindset?

Wolfe

Officially, I’m living the dream. Amia is happy. Leora is happy. They’re both with me, and happy.

Well, metaphorically with me, anyway. In reality, Amia is in her room going to sleep, and Leora is at her house across town, way too far for comfort. I wish she were here. Downstairs. Waiting for me, so that the moment Amia falls asleep, I could go downstairs and sit in Sterne’s booth and watch a violet-haired goddess fish ice out of empty cups and smile at me like…

I inhale, watch my chest rise, then exhale, and watch it deflate.

She smiles at me like she smiles at Amia, I realize. With love and amusement and a deep well of care.

I want her here, so badly my chest aches at the knowledge that she is not.

I curse.

Then, I remember that she isn’t words on a page anymore. I have her phone number, and I’msupposedto be asking for what I want, under her directive. Not onlycanI text her, asking her to come to the bar, but Ishouldtext her, asking her to come to the bar.

I’m a changing man, for the better. I’m carving my path.

I’m texting the woman I love, and not just hoping she shows up, but expecting that she will, because when I ask for what I want, my life is better.

Because what I want is Leora, and she will always make my life better.

She texts back quickly, and I mark a con off my list all by myself.

Darling Starling:Be there in thirty.

Chapter Twenty-Four

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When you have a child, you must be willing to adapt.

Leora

The bar is loud, crowded, and worryingly Wolfe-free.

I check my phone for the fourth time, tapping at the screen until I reach our message thread.

Leora:Be there in thirty.

Wolfe ♥:Perfect. See you then.

Leora:Here a little early! Sterne’s booth is occupied, so I’ll wait at the bar.

And then nothing. Even though it’s been twenty minutes since I told him I was here, which was five minutes before our agreed upon time, but… That still makes this fifteen minutes past the time he was supposed to be down.

My worry grows, inflating in tandem with the seconds ticking by.

When my phone buzzes with a text, I pounce on it, almost dropping the device in my drink in my haste to check the notification.

Wolfe ♥:Amia is having a rough night.

Wolfe ♥:Sorry, I don’t think I’m going to be able to come down tonight.