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A shudder of arousal ran through Savannah. Fallon was right, of course. They’d already started a tentative friendship, so this wouldn’t be just sex. But they could be both and nothing more, right? Swallowing hard, needing to be more forward than she typically was, Savannah took one more step toward Fallon.

“Then just adding that to what we’ve already created.”

Fallon shook her head once before stopping. But her gaze had moved back down to Savannah’s lips, locked on her mouth. Her cheeks were bright and rosy. Her chest rose and fell far more sharply than before.

“I need to think about it,” Fallon finally answered, stepping back to put some space between them. “I’m not ready to make that decision yet.”

“That’s fair.” That disappointment monster was nipping at her heels again. “It’s a lot to think about.”

“In some ways,” Fallon answered, her voice sounding farther and farther away by the second. “And in others, there’s no decision to make at all.”

The elevator dinged, and Fallon stepped out of it. She nodded toward Savannah, that sly smile playing at her lips, the one that Savannah loved to see.

“Thank you for the gift, Savannah.”

“Yeah, sure. Anytime.” How even after all of that was Fallon able to steal her breath like this?

“I’ll text you.”

“I look forward to it.”

With that, Fallon was gone. Savannah stood in the empty elevator, not going anywhere because she couldn’t even remember what button to hit or the fact that she needed to hit a button. Had she really just asked Fallon Schroeder to be her fuck buddy?

Who was she? And what had she done with the meek woman who had survived a nasty divorce and the death of her best friend and brother?

Then again, she wasn’t sure she wanted that Savannah back.

She quite liked this new her.

She was bolder.

Stronger.

Sexier.

nine

“Hey.” Fallon shoved her hands into her jeans as she stood awkwardly in front of her sister.

Monti’s pick of dinner location was somewhere Fallon had never even heard of. The small hole-in-the-wall vegan restaurant was exactly what she’d expected out of her baby sister, and she was only enduring it because something had clicked in that desperate phone call she’d made.

Something that she still couldn’t name but was leaning into.

“You ever been here before?” Monti asked as she opened the door for them.

“Can’t say I have.” That shouldn’t come as a surprise, but then again, Athena knew Fallon better than Monti did at this point. Hell, Savannah might even know her better. She at least listened when Fallon was talking.

“It’s good. I promise.” Monti folded her hands together and bowed to the waitress when they entered. She rambled something off in another language, and Fallon narrowed her gaze. Just how many languages did Monti know?

They were brought to a small table in the back, one that was more off to the side than the others, at least as much as it could be in this small place. “What language was that?”

“Vietnamese.” Monti pressed her lips together hard. “I lived there for eighteen months.”

“I remember,” Fallon responded, trying not to make her tone too annoyed or dark. Monti hadn’t told her or Tia that she’d moved there until she was five months in, and Tia had freaked out because Monti hadn’t called her or responded to texts in weeks. But bringing that up wouldn’t put them on the right path for this conversation. “I didn’t realize you’d learned the language.”

“Kind of hard not to when you live with the locals. It’s respectful, I think.”

“You’re probably right.” Fallon wasn’t sure what to say other than that, so she took to looking around the small restaurant. She had never been worldly like Monti. In fact, she’d never even left the country. There were too many dangers out there for a young single woman, and she wasn’t willing to put herself in a situation where something could—or would—happen.