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“Yeah, we do,” I said, getting wary.

Cade pointed at me with her fork. “You should let her read some of yours. I know you won’t let me read it, but you should send it to her and not say anything.”

I made a face. “Yeah, and what if she hates it?”

Cade cringed. “That would be awkward. But isn’t the kind of fanfic you write the same as what you like to read? Similar tropes and everything?” I nodded slowly.

“It stands to reason that she would like what you’re writing.” I’d thought about that, but the fear that she’d dislike one of my stories was too great to take a risk.

“No. I can’t. It’s fine for strangers to read my work, but I don’t want anyone I know in real life to.” I knew that didn’t make much sense, but that was how I’d always felt about it.

“One of these days I’m going to find it. I feel like I’ll know your voice if I read it.”

I completely disagreed with her. My work was so different than my personality. Fanfic was a place for me to explore things that were unsafe to think about in my real life.

Love. Romance. Sex. Vulnerability. Flirtation. Happily Ever Afters.

I could do all of those things in the safety of those little worlds that someone else had created, but in which I could play and let my imagination explore without limits.

Nowhere else had made me feel that free before. When I’d started dance, it had been like that. And then it wasn’t anymore.

“Sure you would,” I said, having a bite of cake. Cade curled her feet up on the chair and got comfortable.

“You know if you ever wanted to publish, I know people.”

“I know you know people, kid. It’s not going to happen.” Cade especially had been on me to make the switch from publishing fanfic to pursuing being an author in a more traditional sense but I’d told her exactly why I didn’t want to add money to the equation.

“I know, I know. But if you wanted to do something in publishing, even something part time, I could give you a crash course in being an author assistant. Once you know the ropes, it can be a good job.” She’d told me that before.

I wouldn’t lie, thinking about working remotely and not having to talk to a bunch of people and smile constantly sounded pretty great. But I wasn’t professional. I was a college dropout bartender. No one legit was going to hire me, not even with Cade vouching for my character. That kind of job was for someone else. Not for people like me.

It was sweet of her to offer, though.

“Maybe,” I said, and she dropped it, devouring the last of her cake.

I stayed for longer than I meant to with Cade.

“I missed you,” she said when I was getting ready to go. “I know it’s harder to see each other now, but I need to come to you. I feel like you’re always driving out here. I do miss the city, even if I don’t miss my old apartment.”

“Hunter’s place is better,” I said, because it was the truth.

“Yours isn’t bad. And I’d like to meet Sophie.”

Right. Sophie.

“She’s coming with me to Stace’s thing,” I admitted.

Cade squealed. “You have it so baddddd.”

“Shut up, Cade,” I said, pointing at her. “Shut up right now.”

She giggled and gave me another hug.

“We’ll see each other before then, though. Let me know when would be good next week for me to come and hang. I can fiddle with my work schedule.”

That sounded good to me. She agreed that we’d work it out in the group chat and maybe Hunter could join us too.

I got in my car and realized I had barely enough time to get home and get ready for work, but that was okay. Seeing Cade had been worth it. Even if she’d been a pain in my ass about Sophie.