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When Avery woke up thenext morning, Taylor was getting dressed. That was rare; Taylor almost never woke up before her.

“Where are you going?” Avery asked. She hoped it was to go pick up pastries. Taylor had done that before, though she usually waited until after they both woke up (and had sex) to do so.

“I’m taking off,” Taylor said as she pulled her shirt on. “I have to get to the winery to pick up my car, and then I have some stuff to do today before work.”

Avery sat up.

“I’ll drive you there.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Taylor said. “You had a busy day yesterday. Go back to sleep, I’ll see you later.” She flashed a smile at Avery and walked out of the bedroom. That was also unlike Taylor. She was probably still upset about the whole Erica thing and needed to be alone, so Avery just let her go.

Taylor had been really hurt by that bet, which kind of surprised Avery. She would have expected Taylor to shrug it off andnot worry about what other people said about her. Taylor’s reaction to the bet made Avery realize she’d been wrong about her vision of Taylor: she did have insecurities like everyone else. She’d told Avery that, more than once; Avery supposed she hadn’t really believed her. Should she have insisted on driving her this morning, just to see if she was okay? She hated that Taylor was hurting. She would text her later to check in.

But also…she was weirdly glad that she knew the expiration date for their relationship. Maybe it was because she liked structure, clarity, deadlines; she knew Taylor never stayed with anyone for very long, but no one had really told her how long “not very long” was. Everything had been going so well for the two of them, and they’d been having so much fun; she knew that if things kept going like this for much longer, she ran the risk of getting crushed when Taylor decided she was bored with her and it was time to move on. And she didn’t want that.

Now that they had an end date, she felt more secure. No surprises, no chances of getting hurt or too attached. At the most, seven more weeks of fun times and great sex, then Taylor could go off and date the next person who raised an eyebrow at her when she poured wine, and Avery would use her newfound flirting skills to attempt to date someone else.

Avery looked at the clock and snuggled back down into her bed. She had at least an hour before she had to get up. And even though the day before had been fun, it had been long and exhausting, so she was grateful for the break she’d given herself in her schedule. Unfortunately, now that she was awake, she wasawake. After ten minutes of trying to go back to sleep, she got up and made coffee, and got back in bed to spend the next hour peacefully scrolling through nonsense on her phone, which she didn’t often have the leisure to do on a Monday morning. Her phone was still on do notdisturb, and she didn’t let herself check her email yet—she wanted a few more moments of relaxation—but she did click over to check her texts, and found one from Luke from a few moments earlier.

Luke

How’d the surprise go? what’s your week look like? dinner tomorrow night maybe?

Luke had known about her surprise for Taylor, which was why he’d jumped in to take over the cleanup after the shower. She owed him one.

Avery

Surprise was great, thanks for the assist. and yeah we haven’t hung out in too long, let me check my calendar

She couldn’t do Tuesday night, though. Tuesday night had been her night with Taylor ever since they’d started the flirting lessons, and they’d kept it like that after they’d started dating. Even though they usually saw each other on the weekends and at least one other night a week, they always got together on Tuesdays.

Avery

What about lunch tomorrow? I have a busy morning but a window between 1 and 3 if that works for you

She couldn’t wait to tell him about the bet that Taylor hadoverheard. If she was being honest with herself, when Taylor told her about the bet, she’d gotten a flash of pride. She’d tried to push that away in the moment, since Taylor was clearly upset about it and needed to vent. Butshewas never the person other people gossiped about. She was Goody Two-shoes Avery Jensen, always responsible, always dating the nice, boring guy, always doing what was expected of her, always the person who said “yes, please” and “no, thank you.” She never dated the person whom everyone gossiped about, the person people said,What do you think about those two?about, the person people placed bets on. And now she was, and it felt great.

Was it kind of weird and intrusive that people were that interested in her relationship with Taylor that they were placing bets about it? Sure. It was still exciting. Not that she’d tell Taylor that; Avery didn’t want her to think she was making light of something that bothered her so much. But she couldn’t wait to tell Luke about this.

Luke

Done. let me know where and i’ll be there

The next day, Luke texted her after he got to their favorite sandwich shop.

Luke

I’m in line—italian sub or fried chicken sandwich? or one of each and we share?

She texted him back once she’d parked.

Avery

One of each and we share, and chips too. just parked, i’ll grab a table out back

Luke grinned at her when he came outside.

“Hey!” He put their food down and gave her a hug. “I feel like it’s been forever. You’re so busy now withTaylor.” He said her name like he used to say the names of people she’d had crushes on in high school. She, in turn, reverted to elementary school and stuck her tongue out at him. They both burst out laughing.