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Reid settled back in her chair. “The second thing.”

Cade gestured. “Go ahead.”

The three of us had a few too many drinks, but I didn’t care. I’d be hung over tomorrow, fine. Laughing with my friends and soaking up time with them was more important.

“I need dessert,” I said as we stumbled out of the restaurant.

“Me too. I need cake,” Cade said, pouting.

“You always need cake,” Reid pointed out, but she wasn’t that steady on her feet and crashed into me. I managed to keep us both upright as we meandered down the sidewalk.

“Pie,” I said. “I want pie.”

“So we get pie and cake,” Reid suggested. “Piecaken is a thing.”

Cade and I shared a disgusted look.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, that sounds awful,” Cade said.

“Agreed.”

“Fine, shit on my ideas. Go ahead,” Reid said, gesturing wildly with her arm. “I’ll stop suggesting things then.”

As we walked, I realized we were only a short distance from the diner where I’d had pie with Stace.

But I didn’t want to bring my friends there for some reason. I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like a secret or anything, but what if one of the servers recognized me and asked about Stace? Or what if Stace was there now?

It wasn’t that I was hiding her from my friends, exactly. More than I didn’t want to introduce her to them yet. I would, eventually. If we stayed friends.

Stace seemed to think that we were officially friends. That wasn’t a word I used liberally. But Stace had pretty much claimed it for herself. Just took it from me and made it hers. Like she’d picked me up during the fire.

“Cakeeeee,” Cade wailed, and we took pity on her and hit up another place that was known for having fantastic burgers and ludicrous desserts. Like those milkshakes that had piles of cookies on top and whipped cream and brownies and way too much to actually call them a milkshake.

Cade got the red velvet cake shake, of course, which came with an entire piece of cake on top. I got the chocolate chip cookie dough that had an entire ice cream sandwich on top, and Reid went with the brownie, which had not one, but two double chocolate brownies on top.

The shakes arrived and the three of us rushed to suck down the shake part before everything melted. It wasn’t easy, but we made a mess and had a good time.

“This was exactly what I needed,” Cade said, finishing the last bite of her cake slice.

“I think I may have over done it,” Reid said, rubbing her stomach. “Let’s just sit here for a little bit before we go anywhere.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said, leaning back in my chair. The chill from the air and the ice cream in my stomach made me shiver.

What was Stace doing right now? She’d had dinner with her family, but what would she do after? Did she hang out with her firefighter friends? I could so easily picture her at a bar, slinging darts with precision and laughing with a group of her friends. No doubt she had dozens of them. Stace was just one of those people that everyone liked. Even if you didn’t want to like her.

So I still haven’t gotten the details from Tor about Micah. It’s very frustrating. If you see him before I do, see if you can do some recon. I have a family thing so I won’t be at the gym tomorrow.

Why did her telling me she wasn’t going to be at the gym fill me with disappointment? It didn’t matter, really. I’d probably see her at yoga on Monday. Probably.

I’ll do what I can I responded.

“Who are you talking to?” Cade asked.

“No one.” I kept my face neutral.

“You’re talking to someone,” Reid said.

“Great, now you’re ganging up on me.” I glared at both of them.