Page 104 of The Route to You

He drew a deep breath, letting his fingers uncurl as Anna asked Sloan something more innocuous—about the dogs. Fortunately, that topic made Sloan light up.

I can do this. We can do this.

He was almost feeling optimistic as Jeremy pulled into a space near the bar. And then, maybe because God had a twisted sense of humor with him, he saw the only thing that could make his awkwardness even worse—not just Liddy sitting and waiting on a bench outside the restaurant, but Elle, too.

Elle, who he hadn’t talked to since he’d decided to move in with Sloan.

Awesome. Fucking awesome.

27

SLOAN

Why in the hell did I agree to come out?

Besides the fact that she had no idea who the hell Anna was and that Kyle was acting like a weird robot version of himself, Sloan really could have used a smidge more time to mentally prepare before seeing both Liddy and Elle tonight.

Or actually put two seconds of effort into her appearance.

Once upon a decade ago, Elle and Liddy had been like big sisters to her. The Winnicks were all really close anyway, but they’d welcomed Sloan into their family like she was one of them. They’d cried at Mom’s funeral with her, swapped funny videos over texts, and caught Kyle and Sloan in more than one compromising situation.

She swallowed hard.

She sidled up to Jeremy, of all people, as they started toward the bar. “Can I hide behind you?” she whispered. At least he was being relatively normal in this incredibly weird situation.

He arched a grin at her, matching her slower pace enough that they were a few paces behind Kyle and Anna. “I take it you haven’t hung out with Liddy and Elle recently,” he said in a low voice.

“I literally just moved back a week ago,” Sloan confessed.

Jeremy had always been a nice guy. A practical jokester who spent far more time in detention than anyone else she knew, but not because he was a bad guy. He was funny. And easygoing.

And right now, she hoped that enough of their shared background would let him throw her a lifeline.

“So, you haven’t seen them since Kyle got arrested because of you?”

She winced. “Can we please not bring that up?”

Jeremy shrugged. “I mean, sure, but people who don’t know”—he nodded toward Anna—“are just one google search away from finding out all about that episode.”

“Still rather it not be tonight.” She gave him a pained, pleading look.

“Noted.”

They slowed as they approached Liddy and Elle, who were already hugging Kyle, who introduced them to Anna. Her heart pitched forward at a rapid pace as Elle flicked a glance toward her.

Then, to her credit, Elle smiled warmly. “Sloan.” Elle took a few steps toward her, waddling slightly due to her clearly late-stage pregnancy. “It’s been so long.”

Oh crap. Do I hug her? Shake hands?

Sloan’s hand tightened on her bag strap. “Hey,” she managed in a voice that didn’t sound natural. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“I didn’t know you were coming,” Liddy said, stepping beside Sloan to greet her.

Is that a good or a bad thing? Still, Liddy didn’t say it in a negative way, and Sloan tried to push through her discomfort.

“Uh . . . neither did I.” Sloan gave a half-hearted laugh. “I was just getting back home after a job interview and ran into Kyle on the way out.”

“I wasn’t planning on coming out tonight either.” Elle smoothed her hand over her stomach. “But Liddy’s heading back to London tomorrow morning, and I couldn’t resist the urge to hang out with both my siblings.”