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“Yeah. Why would anyone cancel on you?”

“Whywouldn’tthey?”

Eli paused, sighed, then cocked her head at Bridget. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“Why wouldn’t they cancel? I mean…wedated. You know I’m not exactly a good girlfriend.”

Clenching her jaw, Eli shook her head. “Come sit down and talk. You look like you’re going to fall over.”

They made their way to the couch in the small living room the basement boasted. Eli crossed her ankle over her knee and pressed her lips together. “Don’t be so hard on yourself because our relationship didn’t work out.”

“I should be.”

“No, you shouldn’t. Yes, there were mistakes made on both of our parts, but we just weren’t meant to be.”

“I still love you, though.” Bridget risked a glance to Eli, testing her reaction on that one. She’d said it before and it hadn’t gone over well, but they’d also been arguing and Bridget had been crossing boundaries. This time she said it in honest truth.

Eli nodded. “I love you, too, but I’m not in love with you anymore. You were my first love, and I’ve always loved you as a friend. There’s no way around that. I think I’ll always love you in some way.”

“Hence why you answer calls for help?”

Eli laughed. “You know I can’t resist a woman in distress. I must help.”

“You do like to be the knight in shining armor. You always wanted to be the guy.”

“Shut up.”

Bridget snickered and then groaned, dropping her head back onto the couch. “I didn’t plan anything.”

“For what?”

She shifted her gaze to Eli. “For my date with Jerica. I think I should just tell her not to come.”

“You’re an idiot. First, you should plan better. Second, I told you I would help.”

“I know. I just…”

“You’re chickening out.”

Bridget shrugged. “What can we do up here for a date with a gimp?”

Eli gave Bridget a sharp look. “Don’t call yourself that. When is she coming?”

“In a couple hours.”

“We can do lunch out on the deck, if you want. There are guests here, so I imagine there will be people around. You can come down here, though.”

“And have her watch me scoot down the stairs on my ass?”

Eli snorted, trying and failing to hold in her laugh. “You’re right about that. Hmm…what about a puzzle?”

“I should just cancel.”

“No! We can figure this out. You wanted this date, right?”

“I guess,” Bridget mumbled.

“You guess?”