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I know Layne told you to hang out with me, just so we have everything on the table she sent.

Shit.

I’m sorry. I told myself I’d only do it if I ran into you and then we were talking about Nick’s and it just sort of came out. I understand if you don’t want to go now I hurriedly typed out, the panic rising inside me.

She started responding, then stopped, then tried again.

If it wasn’t you, it would have been someone else. Layne is a force of nature. I’m used to her by now. Sorry you got roped in she sent.

I’m really sorry I responded.

Everly. I’m not angry with you. I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow she replied.

There was something about the tone that reassured me. Although my thoughts were still telling me that she was upset with me, that she was just placating me for now, her words did give me some comfort.

I had no idea how this was going to turn out.

I kind of assumed that Ryan would tell Layne about our little pizza outing, so I didn’t feel obligated to say anything, but Sydney knew that something was up with me the next day, so I broke down and confessed.

“We’re going for pizza at Nick’s,” I said. “She hasn’t been there, so I wanted to introduce her to what Arrowbridge has to offer.”

“It’s not much,” Sydney said with a snort. She’d grown up here, so I understood that she might be tired of everything in this town. “Nick’s is really good, though. It’s nice of you to do.”

It rubbed me the wrong way that both Layne and Sydney were acting like hanging out with Ryan was some act of charity. Had they seen her? Getting pizza with an incredibly hot woman was not a hardship for me. Even if they didn’t know about the kiss, it was still weird.

I shrugged one shoulder. “I like talking to her.”

Sydney seemed shocked by that. “I don’t think I’ve ever gotten more than a few words out of her. Eventually I just kind of stopped trying, and I’m a goddamn delight to talk to.”

Sydney, while she was a delight, could be a lot to take. I could handle her, but not everyone could. She also had a tendency to dominate a conversation.

“Maybe she’s just not intimidated by me.” It was one of my many annoyances with myself. People always thought I was much younger than my age. Hell, I was probably going to get carded until I was forty. I was twenty-six and strangers would mistake me for a high school student. There’s nothing intimidating about that.

“Maybe she just likes you,” Sydney said offhand.

I scoffed. “I don’t think so.”

That kiss was definitely an anomaly, seeing as how she hadn’t tried to do it again, and had acted like she wanted to pretend it never even happened.

“I know Joy is the romantic one who’s always shipping people, but I think I saw something between you two. Just… \keep your eyes open.”

I looked at her and deliberately widened my eyes.

“Maybe tone it down just a little before you see her,” she said.

“Noted,” I said.

As the evening approached, I got more and more jittery about getting pizza with Ryan. It wasn’t even a date or anything close to a date, and I was practically vibrating out of my skin. My normal anxiety was high, but it was fighting with the butterflies that had taken up residence in my stomach since last night. There was a lot going on in my body and it almost made me want to send her a message and cancel. I almost did so at least a dozen times, including while I was getting ready. My body was so exhausted from anxiety that all I wanted to do was crawl into my bed with a book and not talk to have to interact with anyone for at least a day.

Instead, I picked out my clothes, going for casual with a wide-leg pant and a white T-shirt. I put in silver earrings my mom had gotten me for my birthday and checked the rest of the hoops in my right ear. I had a total of eight piercings, all in my ears, with seven in one ear. When I’d come home with a bunch of holes in my ear, my parents had said at least they weren’t tattoos. I’d wanted to get tattoos, but could never think of a good one that I’d want to have for a long time. Piercing my ears was quick and fun and pretty low on the pain scale, but still made me feel like I was doing something.

After one last check to make sure my underwear wasn’t visible, I headed downstairs to wait for Ryan to pick me up, sitting in my favorite chair—which also had a convenient view of the driveway so I could see her coming down the road.

At exactly five minutes before seven, a pair of headlights came down the road and turned into the driveway. The outside light came on, illuminating the fanciest car I’d ever seen in in Arrowbridge. Sure, there were a few rich people who had homes here, but a lot of them had undercover wealth and drove nice cars, but not luxury cars. Honor was the only person I knew who had something even close to that.

Ryan’s car was on a whole other level.

My breath caught in my throat as she got out and walked up the porch. I made sure to hide behind the curtains so she couldn’t see me watching her.