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“Love you too.” He directs his attention back to the backseat, giving Matteo a huge wave. “Bye, little man!”

I know this separation is only temporary, but leaving hurts my chest right now. Perhaps it has nothing to do with the place I’m leaving and everything to do with where I’m headed.

My Aunt Bella’s house isn’t the only daunting thing in Aston.

CHAPTER THREE

CARSON

My eyebrows lower in suspicion as I cock my head to the side. Why are there so many varieties of instant mac and cheese and mashed potatoes? I’m supposed to be going to Lincoln and Nova’s for our first friends’ dinner. It’s something Riley and Nova decided they want us all to do once a month.

The only kicker is, it’s supposed to be a potluck situationand I can’t make ramen noodles without turning them to mush.

Pulling out my phone, I take a quick glance at the group text, realizing none of the guys were in charge of food. I see Rowan’s name and tap on it. I trap it between my ear and my shoulder as I pull off a box of instant mashed potatoes to read the instructions. The ringing stops like he answered, but I’m greeted with silence.

“Did you talk to anyone about food tonight? No one said anything about what they were bringing and I was going to just bring mashed potatoes. Can I bring instant ones or will that be weird?” I ask, pursing my lips in contemplation. “I don’t think anyone would be able to tell that they’re not real.”

There’s still silence and I’m wondering if Rowan even actually answered my call. I set down the box, release my phone from my shoulder, and hold it out in front of me. It’s connected.

“Hello? Did you fucking hang up on me?”

“No, Ford,” he mutters in response, his voice seemingly disinterested.

“What are you and Hadley bringing? Did she talk to Nova or Riley at all about food?”

Silence again.

“Rowan?”

“Hadley isn’t coming tonight.” Rowan sighs, his voice trailing off at the end.

“Oh, is she sick or something?” I corkscrew my lips, shuffling down the aisle as I lean forward to inspect the boxes of pasta closer. I’m not so sure I should show up with instant mashed potatoes, but maybe something similar would suffice. Carb for carb, right?

“No.” The word is vacant and flat as it comes through the speaker.

“Then why won’t she be there?” I question him as I stand upright again, glancing around the aisle, not sure why the hell they put any expectation on someone like me.

“Ford.”

My brain is still hung up on the food situation and I don’t even register what he said. “Can I just get a pasta salad from the deli counter or something?”

“Carson Ford.”

“What?” I respond, holding my phone against my ear as I pause in the aisle, standing in front of the mac and cheese section again.

“I don’t give a flying fuck what you bring to Lincoln and Nova’s tonight. I don’t plan on going.”

My eyebrows pull together. “What? The girls are insistent on making this a thing.” I let out a deep sigh, rolling my eyes in frustration. “You don’t get to get out of this. You have to go tonight and if Hadley isn’t sick, she should probably come too.”

“Hadley can’t come because she fucking left.” He mutters a curse under his breath. “I just dropped her off at the airport and she’ll be on a flight to California in an hour.”

My entire body falls rigid. “You let her leave?”

“What the fuck was I supposed to do, Ford? Beg her to stay?”

“Umm, yes, you idiot.” This time when I roll my eyes, it’s because I can’t reach through my phone and smack him. “If you love her, you can’t let her go.”

“I can’t ask her to stay, Carson. She has plans, she has a life to live. I can’t ask her to stay here when I can’t give her the relationship she deserves.”