Page 179 of While You Were Trending

“I’d get so many looks though.”

“Would it make you happy?”

“There’s a lot that would make me happy that isn’t practical or right.”

The weight in her sentence that has my heart doing a sprint.

Like I’m something that would make her happy.

“Fuck the expectations,” I say. “Get the car you want.”

Date the guy you want.

“Money’s a bit tight right now.”

If we were dating, I’d buy her the car she wants.

No hesitation.

But we’re not dating.

We probably shouldn’t even be going to see my brother’s show together.

I’ve been putting off calling Alex and having the talk we need to have, knowing it would be better in person, not wanting to do it at all, hiding behind the NDA Mabel made me sign.

“When your wine and gift shop turn out to be more successful than your wildest dreams, you’ll have to get your mermiata,” I say.

“I just might.”

“And go on a road trip. Own your own memories.”

She sighs again, but this one holds a grumble. “Why do you always sound like my therapist?”

“You found a smart therapist.”

She laughs and playfully shoves my arm. “Stop being funny.”

“Admit I’m smart, and I will.”

“One, no, you wouldn’t, and two, if I admit you’re smart, I’ll never live it down.”

I want to go on that road trip with Ginny.

And then I think about how Alex has always been the first person to believe in me.

He pushed me harder and harder in college, never giving up when I told him I thought I wasn’t good enough.

I wouldn’t have gotten where I did without him.

He was the first person to fight for me to stay on the team, and the first person to comment on my socials when I told him Zander had goaded me into doingFoxy Goes There.

Even when I leave the winery—even when Ginny tells me it’s over—I still owe it to my best friend to tell him the truth I’ve hidden from him for years.

But not tonight.

Tonight, I get to give Ginny happy memories in a car.

“You ever play the alphabet game?” I ask.