Page 69 of Say it Ain’t So

“Joss, sweetie⁠—”

“I haven’t told him.” It was nothing more than a whisper, but Cheyenne’s sigh told me she heard it.

“Why not?”

My throat closed up at the same time my heart clenched. I didn’t want to say it out loud. That I didn’t think I was worthy. That this whole thing with Rylan had been nothing but a dream and saying it aloud would make it disappear.

“Don’t you think you deserve this?” Cheyenne asked, the compassion in her voice ringing clear. “You’ve been through hell, babe. It’s about time you were given an ounce of the love you put into the world.”

“I don’t need to be given anything.”

“Except that magical unicorn dick.”

Laughter burst from my chest and was joined by Cheyenne’s on the other end of the line. I was so distracted by it, I didn’t notice anything outside. When something hit my window, that laughter was replaced by a scream as I almost jumped through the roof.

“Van!” My friend stood outside my door, his face nearly pressed to the glass. I rolled down my window, yelling at him as it went. “You scared the shit out of me!”

He leaned in, putting his arms on the door frame as he gave me a crooked smile. “Whatcha doing?”

“I’m talking—” I looked down at my hand, which was no longer holding my cell phone. I scrambled around, finally finding it tucked under the edge of a blanket I kept in the footwell of my passenger seat. Into the phone, I said, “Just a minute, babe,” before turning back to Van. “I was on the phone.”

“I see that.” He looked me over, and I swore he knew something he shouldn’t. “Everything okay?”

“What?” I tucked my hair behind my ear. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

Van smirked, then rubbed my head like he often did with Kolton, messing up my hair and tossing strands of it into my face.

“Van!” He edged back, out of my reach, and laughed as I fixed my hair. I caught sight of Rylan over his shoulder and chewed the edge of my lip.

I hadn’t seen him come into the parking lot. He hadn’t been here when I left the building.

Van stepped in front of me, blocking Rylan from my line of sight, and bent until he was looking me in the eye. “You let me know if you need anything, alright? I’m here for you, whatever you need.”

With my nod, Van reached in and tossed my hair again, laughing as he stepped back. He waved once, then spun on his heel and went straight toward Rylan.

“Dammit!” I pulled my phone back to my ear as Van reached Rylan’s side.

“Everything okay?”

I let out a sigh. “Not really. Rylan and I had plans after work and Van just intercepted him.”

“Booty call?” she said with a laugh.

“No!” I couldn’t control the squeal in my voice. “We were going to the park to see Frank.”

“Frank, as in your crow bro?”

“Yes, my crow bro. And don’t even start with me. You’re the reason I even started feeding him to begin with.”

“Sweetie, when I told you that you needed a man in your life, Frank is not what I meant.”

“Yeah, well, Rylan thinks he’s cool, so there.”

Cheyenne let out a little giggle. “So there. Damn, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.”

“Look, babe, I gotta get to work, but I’ll call again as soon as I can.”