Page 136 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

I turned slightly, scanning for something else…

And that’s when I saw them.

Two very familiar silhouettes across the store.

Honey and Andi.

My heart dropped so fast I felt it in my throat.

No, no, no, no.

I immediately turned back to the rack, stepping closer like the shirts could shield me from reality itself. I grabbed one at random and lifted it higher than necessary, pretending to inspect it like my life depended on the stitching.

Maybe if I didn’t move⁠—

“James.”

Shit.

I closed my eyes for half a second, slowly lowered the shirt, and turned.

“Guys!” I said, smiling like I hadn’t attempted a full disappearance act behind discounted clothing.

Honey was already walking toward me like a model, her expression unimpressed in a way only she could perfect. Andi followed beside her, arms crossed, already frowning.

Honey stopped right in front of me, looking me up and down once.

“Did you just try to hide behind a medium-sized button-down?” she asked.

I blinked. “It was large.”

Andi snorted.

“That makes it worse,” Honey said.

I laughed lightly, casual. Easy. Meanwhile, internally? Full collapse.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, deflecting.

Honey didn’t answer immediately. She just looked at me. Like, really looked at me.

And suddenly, the mall didn’t feel loud anymore.

“Where have you been?” she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

I shrugged, forcing something light into my voice. “Busy.”

“Busy, huh?” Andi repeated.

“With what?” Honey added.

“Life,” I said. “Work. My Aussie client has been assigning me new tasks. So...”

“You don’t work,” Andi said—which was an exaggeration of course. I just wasn’t that busy. But of course, I couldn’t say that right now.

Still, they didn’t look convinced.

Honey tilted her head slightly. “That’s crazy. Because last time I checked, ‘life’ didn’t stop you from answering our messages.”