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A sniffle escapes me. “I think I’m out.”

Every head turns to me in surprise.

“I mean, I’m out of chocolate. How can a girl turn down Chinese and a chick flick?”

“We can order that too. Kenzie without chocolate isn’t something I want to see,” Hillary says. “I might even run out to the store to get some.”

I laugh and stand, ready to do anything to get my brain off the events of tonight. I’d be lucky to get through organizing Trey’s home without someone spilling the beans.

“Just so you know, I was over him a long time ago. So please don’t be weird.”

“We won’t,” Millie says. She’s the one I’m most worried about.

“I’m calling bull,” Dani says, her hands on her hips as she stands in the doorway. “There’s no way you don’t have feelings for the guy after the posters in your closet, your crazy knowledge of all his stats, and how you act every time he’s around.”

I open my mouth to refute it, but it would be a lie. “Okay, so I’m still working on it. Closer each day. Don’t you live with your husband now?”

Dani gives me another look that tells me she doesn’t believe it. “Yes, but he’s out with the guys and I needed a girl’s night.”

“We’ll keep you then,” I say, smiling at her.

Her phone rings and she says, “But it looks like he forgot something. I’ll be right back.” She disappears down the stairs.

“We might as well get popcorn going,” I say. Takeout will be at least another thirty minutes and after all the stress of today, I’m going to need something to snack on.

“I still think you should do the docuseries,” Evie says, grabbing a blanket from the back of the couch and wrapping it around herself.

“Why?” I say, thinking she’s joking.

“Look at the perks. You’ll get to date people who you’d be compatible with. There’s also the chance one of them could be Trey. And you’ll get a cash prize if it works out. I know I wouldn’t turn down a little extra cash.”

I close my eyes for a moment, trying to register her words. “Maybe I’ll put your name up for the vote,” I say, grinning at her.

She shakes her head. “Don’t you dare. I’ll be in charge of the popcorn when these episodes air.”

As the others banter about what movie we should watch, I let myself imagine what it would be like to actually be Trey’s girlfriend. And then I shut down that sentiment quickly. Based on my research, I’m not his type.

12

TREY

“Turn around.” Miles and I are in my car on our way to a reunion dinner for Owen, who came back from his medical mission trip. We’re not even three blocks from Miles’ house when he’s directing me past the road that leads to the restaurant.

“Where are we going?” I ask, confused.

He’s already got his phone up to his ear and is grinning like a fool when I hear Dani’s voice on the other end. “Yeah, I forgot to give you the keys to the car. We’ll drop them off on our way to dinner. Meet me outside?”

I frown, trying to reconcile the man before me with the Miles I used to know. Granted, he didn’t come from the easiest of family backgrounds, but it’s like Dani has turned him into a warm tub of butter.

“Keys? Why does she need the keys?”

He gives me a half-smile and says, “She managed to lose her keys to the house and we haven’t had a chance to get a copy made yet. I don’t want her locked out if she gets home before us.”

“You are the ultimate example, bruh,” I say, laughing when my attempt at a lower octave backfires.

We’d all done a bunch of shuffling over the past few months, me getting a new house, Miles gaining a wife. Jack’s vet clinic now takes on large animals as well as the small variety, and Spencer has been holed up in his house working on the audiobook jobs he’s getting from a bunch of indie authors. I’ll catch up with Owen tonight, but I’m excited to hang out in a less muddy environment with all of them.

The drive isn’t too far away and I pull up to a small house. The front lawn is covered in blow-up pool animals. Not the small ones, but the giant ones that could be used on a lake.