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“What? Really?”

“Yeah, we got an Uber. You were there?” Bryce asked.

“I ran after that Uber until I realized I’d never catch it. I thought it was you, but I convinced myself you were a figment of my imagination.”

“We just missed each other,” Bryce said, sounding sad. “What could have happened? We could’ve known each other this whole time.”

“Well, we’re here now. We can’t go back in time, or else I wouldn’t have gone downstairs for another drink. We could have avoided that stupid fight.”

“But we wouldn’t have had our first kiss in that corner.”

“We could’ve had it on that sofa and another one after that, and–”

“Ended up at your place?” Bryce asked.

“Yes,” she said softly. “And I still would have called in sick the next day, but for an entirely different reason.”

Bryce didn’t say anything for a long moment.

“Bryce?” Sophie checked.

“We could’ve had that,” Bryce spoke and paused. “It’s just sad to me that had I not gotten pulled away and taken to the police station for something I had nothing to do with, you and I could’ve had that.”

“Maybe we still can,” Sophie suggested. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know how much it hurt when I lost you, and I don’t want that ever again.”

“Then, we won’t lose each other,” Bryce said definitively. “No matter what happens when we meet, we won’t lose each other, Soph. Even if it’s not meant to be for us romantically, there’s clearly something here. Don’t take this the wrong way: I have no desire to just be your friend, Sophie. I want more. But if that’s how it works out, I’ll have to be okay with that becauseI don’t want to lose you again. I’ve been telling people that this is about closure for me, just in case it doesn’t end how I want – or, really,beginhow I want – but we have that night at the bar and a million messages exchanged between us now. I know things about you. You know things about me. It’s not just those few hours between us anymore, is it?”

“No, it’s not,” she said with a smile as she rolled over in bed. “It’s more.”

“Soph, I haven’t been with anyone since before I met you. I went on some dates because my friends wanted me to move on, but nothing happened. I haven’t even kissed another woman since that night.”

“Me neither,” Sophie shared. “And same. I thought I needed to find someone else, but no one made me feel how you did that one night, so I didn’t want to.”

“There’s no pressure on that happening this visit. We can see how things go.”

“I know,” she replied.

“I get to see you soon,” Bryce said.

“I can’t wait,” Sophie said honestly.

“But you have a whole day of a terrible work meeting tomorrow, and it’s late,” Bryce added. “I should let you get some sleep. I want you well-rested.”

Sophie’s smile widened, and she said, “I don’t want to hang up.”

“Neither do I,” Bryce replied.

“Will you just talk to me for a little while longer?”

“Sure. What about?”

“Anything. I just want to keep listening to your voice,” Sophie replied.

“I can tell you about Kelsey and Megan.”

“They’re anandnow?” she asked.

“Not exactly. But I was right.”