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“This really brings back memories of smoking out the window of our first dorm,” Izzy said, handing the vape back to Maggie.

“Room 305 forever,” Maggie said with a grin. Maggie and Pete helped Izzy take off her coat, stepping aside so she could remove her boots with more grace than Pete had demonstrated. Izzy wiggled her toes in her thick Fair Isle ski socks.

“What do you guys know about Eddie?” Pete asked in possibly the least-casual way a question had ever been asked. She couldn’t just tell everyone what she’d overheard — one, it would out her as a creeping creep after all, but two, it was Danica’s torrid news to tell.

“Eddie, like Dani’s fiancé?” Maggie asked, sticking her vape back into the pocket of her coat.

Pete nodded and Izzy rolled her eyes. “Not this again,” Izzy murmured.

Maggie eyed Pete suspiciously. “Not what again?”

“Nothing. I’m just curious. I’ve never met him,” Pete said, stuffing her hands into her pockets. She wanted to get a read on how heartbroken Danica was going to be, but she also wanted to see if this was the kind of breakup that would stick.

Izzy sighed. “You’ve never met Maggie’s wife either,” she pointed out, and Pete could tell by her tone that she hadn’t meant to make Pete feel guilty for being a bit off-grid with the friend-group, but it had struck a chord.

“He’s quiet,” Maggie said. “Reserved, but smiley. Like, really tooth-forward, if you know what I mean. Dani has never given me any hints about how he is in bed, despite my asking several times.”

Pete wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Do you think she’s happy?” Pete asked, her voice taking on an embarrassingly tender tone.

Maggie and Izzy exchanged a look, then a shrug.

“I guess,” Maggie said. “She said they hadn’t discussed having kids and that the wedding has no date yet, so my spidey-senses say something is weird there, but with Dani, you never know. She could be sitting in a burning building and tell you she loves the warmth. It’s so rare to find out how she really feels about anything.”

Hmm. That was a good point. Pete chewed on her lower lip.

Izzy raised an eyebrow, and Pete could tell she knew exactly where Pete’s mind was going. Only Izzy knew about Pete’s pipe dream that things with Danica could go a different way in the future.

Maggie crossed her arms. “What’s going on in that weird little ball of chaos you call your brain?”

“Okay, first,rude,” Pete said, stifling a grin. “And second, nothing.” She wasn’t a very good liar, but she attempted to conceal that fact with a bit of over-explanation. “I was curious about our friend. Ourmutualfriend. Our friend who we are all friends with and should care about.”

Her intended stern look gave way to a moment of concern that she might seem too intimidating. Well, that was a worry until both Izzy and Maggie laughed.

“Sure,” Izzy said with a snort of amusement. “Extremely convincing.”

“I had no idea you were still in love with her after all this time,” Maggie said, her voice holding a high note of surprise.

Izzy groaned, taking Maggie’s vape out of her coat again. Apparently, she’d need much, much more THC in her system to handle this conversation.

“Love is a very strong word,” Pete said, holding out her palms to stop that line of thought immediately. “More like a veryvague notion, just a hint, really, of interest. More curiosity than anything else.”

Neither of her friends seemed very convinced, based on the skeptical and amused looks on their faces.

“You’re out of your mind,” Izzy said, holding open the door as she exhaled into the cold air.

“No, wait, I actually don’t hate this,” Maggie said, still eyeing Pete. “Eddie seems about as exciting as a hard-to-kill houseplant. Where’s the excitement in that, you know?”

Pete raised an eyebrow. “Weird metaphor, but?—”

“Simile,” Izzy corrected, blowing vapor out the door again.

“Whatever,” Pete said, rolling her eyes. “And what do you mean? Or are you just trying to meddle because you’re boringly happy in your marriage?”

Maggie waved her hands dismissively in the air, hopping on the balls of her socked feet, though Pete couldn’t tell if that was out of excitement or feeling cold. “I love to meddle. Meddling Maggie, that’s what they call me.”

“No one has ever said that,” Izzy said, shaking her head with her eyes closed.