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“And am fun.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Despite my big ears.”

Although she probably wanted to kill me, Natalie laughed instead. “So. . . you okay?”

“No, but I will be soon,” I assured her.

“Have a good time and make sure you let us know how it goes.”

“Obviously. Talk to you later.”

“See ya.”

I hadn’t realized how good of a distraction Natalie’s call had been until now there was nothing to do but stare at my phone for a text like, “on my way.”

When that got boring, I paced around my apartment, but not too fast. Didn’t want to work up a sweat.

It seemed like three hours later when my phone finally came to life. Nate was calling. Odd. I wondered why not a quick text?’

“Hello?” I said, my hand practically shaking.

“Hey, Zoe.”

Something was wrong. Zoe, not Zoe girl. And his tone was flat too.

“What’s wrong?”

Had he been delayed? Last I knew, his flight was on time. But why hadn’t he contacted me before now?

“Where are you?” I asked.

“At Lucas’s apartment.”

What the hell?

“Why?”

Silence. Almost like he was back on base and had been called away.

Finally, he said, “I met a guy on the plane.” His tone still sounded much less full of life than any other time we talked. “He told me about a woman he’d dated for six months. Apparently pretty serious. She even wanted to get married.”

Six months.

As he spoke, I began to feel a bit queasy.

“Never caught her name. But his was Erik.”

Fuck. Of all the people he could possibly sit next to. Fucking Erik. What were the chances?

Nothing is a coincidence, Zoe.

Usually, I believed the universe worked in mysterious but very deliberate ways. But right now, this just felt like really bad luck.

“Nate—”

“When my flight companion saw Lucas, I could tell they knew each other but weren’t on very friendly terms. So, of course, I asked Lucas about him. Turns out—”