Page 106 of Here We Go Again

“That sounds perfect,” I say, then I lean up to kiss him again because I can. After that speech, there isn’t another option.

The kiss only lasts a moment before the condo door swings open. “You’re home!” Mia says. “And totally making out!”

I turn to face her, cheeks heating as I tuck myself into Theo’s side. “You just interrupted our goodbye.”

“I interrupted your third goodbye. I’ve been watching through the ring cam, and honestly, I think I’ve been very patient,” Mia says. She looks up at Theo. “I’m genuinely thrilled for whatever is happening here, but you’ve had her all week. Now it’s my turn.”

“Fair enough,” Theo says. He leans down and gives me one last peck. “I’ll text you later?”

I nod. “Okay,” I say, then I watch as he hoists his duffel bag onto his shoulder and heads for the elevator at the end of the hall.

I breathe out a happy sigh as he turns and waves one last time.

Then I remember Mia’s news.

She and Aaron split up, and I’m standing here sighing like a lovesick puppy.

She and Aaron split up, and I haven’t even texted her to check in. I’ve known for almost five days. How did I not text her? Better yet, how did I not call her? She said we could debrief once I was home, but I’m her best friend. I should have ignored that suggestion and called her the minute I was free.

But that’s just it. The night she told me was the night I kissed Theo, and then the rest of my vacation was basically that. Theo. All day, every day.

“So … I guess we have a lot of catching up to do,” Mia says dryly.

“Mia, I’m so sorry,” I say. “I wanted to call you about the whole Aaron thing, but the night you texted me was the night we first kissed, and then the rest of the week sort of got away from me. Which, that’s the last thing I want—for a relationship to consume me—and I promise it will never, never happen again.”

She frowns. “Becca, relax,” she says. “I’m not mad at you. You were on vacation with Hockey McHottyFace. Of course you were consumed. I would have yelled at you had you wasted even one second to call me about someone as insignificant as Aaron.”

“You mean Dr. Mc…” I hesitate, struggling to come up with an appropriate insult. Mia is so much better at these than I am. “Dr. McDoodyButt?”

She bursts out laughing. “Oh my gosh, I’m so glad you’re home. Dr. McDoodyButt is perfect.”

I step forward and pull her into a hug. “I have so much to tell you,” I say. “But I really do want to talk about Aaron first.”

“We can,” she says. “But first, I have another surprise.” She opens the condo door a little wider, and Indigo steps into view.

She lifts her arms up over her head. “Guess who quit her job and left London early?”

“What!” I rush forward and pull her into an enormous hug. I haven’t seen Indigo in at least two years. She’s stunning, as always, her red hair a sea of riotous curls. “It’s so good to see you! Geez, what happened to you in London? You look amazing.”

“Trust me, I look this way despite London. Not because of it.” She tugs me through the door while Mia steps into the hall to retrieve my suitcase. “Now,” Indigo says, clapping her hands together like she’s calling the room to order. “We clearly have a lot of catching up to do. What do you say we break out the good wine, order the expensive pizza, and have ourselves a slumber party?”

I glance at my watch. “At one in the afternoon?”

“Duh,” she says. “If we start now, we’ll have time for two bottles of good wine.”

28

BECCA

As much as I loved being with Theo, time with Mia and Indigo feels like therapy. By the time the pizza is gone, and the wine is mostly gone, and the sun has dropped behind the Atlanta skyline, we’ve managed to talk through pretty much everything.

Aaron, as it turns out, has a wife. One he all but entirely managed to hide from the rest of the hospital. Until said wife drove an hour into the city to surprise him with lunch. Mia was at the nurse’s station when she arrived and got to be the one who paged Aaron to let him know he had a visitor.

Dr. McDoodyButt doesn’t even come close to the name this guy deserves.

Mia keeps insisting she’s fine, that she feels more foolish than anything else, but I sense the hurt that she’s hiding.

I don’t know anyone who dreams of a happily ever after quite so ardently as Mia, so this whole experience only renews my determination to protect her, to screen her dates with extra scrutiny so she doesn’t get hurt like this again.