Page 18 of Can We Skip to the Good Part?

“Speaking of not being a pushover, I have a bit of a career announcement to make,” Ella said. She held up a hand. “It’s minor, but I think I want to launch a new business and start designing these.” She turned this week’s cover around and pulled a nervous face.

“Ella, that’s perfect,” Ariana said with a wide grin. “You’re gonna be the coolest member of the Weepers. You’re legit going to be part of the romance industry.”

“I want an autographed copy of your first book design,” Morgan said, hand to heart.

“It’s a great idea,” Max said. “You have such a good handle on these books that I’m sure you’ll come up with some amazing covers.”

“Real talk.” Ella hooked a thumb her way. “This is all very new, and Max was partly responsible for planting the first seed.”

She sat taller and grinned, surprised to hear she’d been a part of this process.

That’s what attention from Ella Baker did—left you grinning like crazy.

“I definitely can’t take credit. I asked a question at a grocery store.

” But the kernel of having been a part of the process lodged, and her face felt hot.

“Well, it landed. Then I got to meet Alexandra Raymond at Doug’s when she saw the flyer I’d designed and asked, guess what?

If I did covers.” She looked over at Max, incredulous.

“The back-to-back mentions felt like a sign.” She shook her head, grinning, looking adorable and excited.

“I guess I’ve been really stressed about my career, and now that I have a project, even if it’s small, I can breathe a little better.

” Max had zero right, but she wanted to remember the way Ella looked in this moment.

Passionate Ella was a favorite. Excited was up there now, too.

She was less of a fan of the judgmental slash angry version, but at the same time, Ella was never cruel.

Her one regret was that Ella couldn’t see her for who she truly was.

“I love when we do group updates. Stevie, what about you?” Ariana asked. “How’s your journey into the lady pond going?”

“Ah, hell. It’s just easier if I stay in my house and host my friends who talk about books.” She reached for a celery stick, looking more vulnerable than Max had ever seen her.

“You take your time,” Olive said, nudging her.

“Or don’t and rip the fear off like a Band-Aid,” Ariana said with a shrug. “There’s always Sally Sue’s.”

Morgan sat upright like a child whose parents had just dangled Disneyland. “I’m with Ari. Sally Sue’s would be fun.” Her eyes went even wider. “Hey, we could all go.”

Stevie raised an intrigued brow. “So, I’d just walk around and offer to buy some woman a drink.” She covered her eyes. “I don’t think I could ever do that. Wait. Maybe I could do that.”

“You certainly could do that.” Ella leaned in and regarded the group. “Is this a gay bar?”

“Exactly that,” Morgan said. “Halfway between here and the city. It’s part jungle cruise, part country and western.

Sal couldn’t decide on theming. There’s line dancing and safari imagery.

” A lightbulb went off. “That’s right. Everyone, Ella’s new!

We have to introduce her to Sally Sue’s.

” She swiveled, excitement flying off her like sparks.

“And Stevie, you can just tag along and get your bearings. Dip your toe into the sexy woman scene and maybe even flirt a little.”

Max smiled, impressed by the expert manner in which Morgan had just taken the pressure off Stevie by making this about Ella. Knowing her big heart, the low-pressure delivery had been intentional. “A group event it is, in Ella’s honor.”

“Now, I need a new outfit,” Ella said. “I don’t have western wear or safari clothes. Except, I’m on a spending restriction until I sell some book covers, so you’re stuck with the wardrobe I own.”

Max shook her head sadly. “I don’t know that we can take you with us under those conditions.”

Ella sucked in air in offense.

“Ignore her. You’re coming,” Ariana said. “You, too,” she told Stevie.

“Oh, fuck a duck,” Stevie said. “I’ll work on getting myself primed.”

It became apparent an hour later that tonight’s book club chat would take a back seat to the group’s own personal catch-up session.

This brand of detour tended to happen every six weeks or so.

There was something to be said for spending a couple of hours decompressing together.

Max enjoyed those nights every bit as much as their more focused meetings.

That’s what made the book club so awesome—the group friendship and the bond that only seemed to grow the more time they spent together.

She was already on the way to her car, feeling so much lighter than when she’d arrived, when the sound of her name caught her attention.

“Max!” Ella yelled a second time and came bounding down the slightly sloped driveway. “Wait a sec.”

The cold wind hit her face, making her shrug further into her coat. “What’s up?”

“Gah!” She laughed as she approached. “Why in hell is it this cold? It’s barely October.”

“You’re not in Tulsa anymore.” She offered a slight smile.

“Never have I been more sure.” She exhaled and relaxed her own grin. “I just wanted to thank you privately.”

Max turned her face to the side and regarded Ella, whose own coat was thin at best. It made her want to take off her own and hand it over. “Thank me? For what? You need a bigger coat.”

“I was just thinking that. I’ll put it on the 'someday when I'm employed' list. For the grapes. You didn’t have to do that, ya know.”

She shrugged, trying to downplay. “You looked like someone who would give them a good home. Grapes deserve the best.” Vulnerability wasn’t in her comfort zone, and she’d do anything to wiggle away from it.

“Also, I owe you an apology.” Why were Ella’s blue eyes so luminous at night?

“Oh, I like that.” Max straightened, waiting to hear what was next.

“I thought you might.” Ella studied the treetops as Morgan and Ariana headed to their cars parked along the curb.

“It’s too cold for any human! Also, don’t look so serious over there,” Ariana called.

“We’re talking about foot photos, so we have to,” Max called back.

“I will murder you in your sleep,” Ariana returned.

“I will wait for you all night.”

Max took a moment to enjoy the exchange and waited until they could recapture their privacy.

Once the others were tucked away in their cars, she turned back to Ella, whose eyes once again made Max’s bones go to liquid.

She wasn’t sure she would ever get used to their effect. She also wasn’t sure she wanted to.

“Back to what I was saying. I probably rushed to judgment when I realized who you were.”

Max nodded. “I get it. You were expressing your loyalty to Rachel. That meant slamming the door in my face on anything between us.”

“That’s a brutal piece of imagery.”

“Just being honest.”

“She’s my best friend,” Ella emphasized. “I didn’t have much choice. But I can see now that maybe some of the things I was told were slanted, influenced by the hurt Rachel was combing through at the time.”

Max crossed her arms. “I think that’s entirely accurate.”

“Doesn’t mean I can kiss you again.”

She felt her lips pull to the side. “No? Because we were pretty good at it.”

“Likely award-winning, but it’s probably best we not talk about it anymore.”

“You’re the one who brought it up.”

“Stop pointing out the obvious.”

Max could do this all damn day. There were people in this world who threw sparks when they were within feet of each other, and not just through physical chemistry.

The two of them had a give-and-take that made more than her body wake the hell up.

Ella made her mind come alive. She made Max wonder if romance in all of its pageantry might be real after all.

Because who else could make her feel so many little and big things at once? “How do you do that?”

“What?”

“Make every one of my emotions feel huge.”

“Oh.” She went quiet. “I do that?”

“Yes.” She shoved a hand through her hair. “It’s more than a little maddening.”

“I’ll stop.”

Max opened her mouth and closed it, spotting Olive as she scooted by. “Hot date tonight, Olive?” Max asked.

“Yep.” She slid into her car and slammed the door without another word, prompting them to exchange a curious look.

“I can’t tell if she’s serious,” Ella said.

“That’s Olive for you. She’s either headed to a quiet house to climb under a quilt or on her way to a rave in Paris. It’s one or the other.”

Ella stepped closer as if sharing a secret. “So …”

“Yes?”

“I’ve seen her texting someone during book club, and she gets this saucy little smile on her face.” She shrugged. “Maybe it’s the kinds of stories we’re discussing, but I feel like she has someone.”

Max widened her eyes. “I’ve gotten that impression, too. I thought it was just me.”

Ella laughed. “We’re wholly onto something.”

“Yeah?” The delicacy of the subject matter left them standing very close to each other. For a long moment, neither of them said anything, but their eye contact never wavered.

“Yeah,” Ella said, finally watching Max like her world depended on it. “You know, it’s a shame we only kissed that one time.”

“I completely agree.” Without giving herself space to think, to change her mind, Max placed her palm on Ella’s cheek, gratified when she pressed back.

The world slowed down before finally disappearing altogether.

The warmth of Ella’s skin sent a tremor through Max, a quiet rebellion against every reason she shouldn't be doing this.

Ella’s breath hitched, barely a sound, but Max felt it all over, felt the way Ella leaned into the touch like she was starved for it.

Like they both were. Yes, it was reckless and selfish, but for just this moment, the world outside didn’t exist. Ella’s eyes fluttered shut, just for a second, before she turned her face into Max’s palm, pressing a kiss there, featherlight.

It was a promise they couldn’t keep. When Ella finally pulled away, the absence was unbearable.

“It’s later than I thought.” Ella closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and straightened.

“Yeah. I suppose it is.” The spell was broken.

The air felt different, no longer shimmering with that rare feeling of magic.

Max shouldered the loss immediately, but joined Ella in the land of the logical.

She had to face it. There was a giant obstacle between them, and no way around it.

The code said you didn’t fall for your best friend’s ex, and that’s precisely who Max was.

In fact, she admired Ella for her decency.

There wasn’t enough of it in this world.

“I probably shouldn’t do things like that. ”

“And I probably shouldn’t like it. Pact to stop?

” Ella held out her pinkie finger. Max leaned back on her heels, trying to smile.

The results were questionable because this wasn’t a pact she wanted to enter into in the slightest.“Pact to stop or pact to stop liking it?” She met Ella’s gaze.

The moonlight highlighted the slate blue of her eyes.

“I don’t think anyone’s offered me their pinkie since the fourth grade. ”

“Then it’s about time I’m here. You’re welcome.” Her smile lost wattage. “And it’s a pact for both .”

“I can agree to a pact to stop touching. There’s no way I can erase the like part.”

“Oh,” Ella said, her lips holding the shape of the word for an extra moment. “Then maybe we’ll just focus on,” she shrugged, “becoming friends. Learning how to do a better job of that.”

“That’s a step up from coexisting.”

“It is. I’m figuring this out as I go. I apologize.”

“Accepted. And how will Rachel feel about us forging a friendship?”

“She already knows we’re in the book club together. She’s a mature adult.”

“Most of the time,” Max said and added a smile to soften the blow.

Rachel wasn’t an awful person, but she did strive to make the world tilt in her favor, sometimes at the expense of others.

After a while, Max had to accept that about her and admit they were not meant for each other.

She wondered about Rachel and Ella’s dynamic because Ella emanated generosity and thoughtfulness.

She imagined Rachel would step all over that if given the opportunity.

But then maybe Ella brought out another side of Rachel.

People weren’t all one thing. She’d seen that in her work over and over again. “I don’t mean to come down on Rachel.”

“Then don’t. She’s the reason I’m still standing.

” That defensive spark was back. Ella seemed to recognize it and relax.

“So, here’s the thing. You two have your differences.

I get that. But she was there for me when I lost my job, when even my parents blew me off.

When my fiancée walked away, Rachel picked me back up again. ”

“I’m sorry those things happened. She seems to have been a good friend to you.” Max had a lot of questions and chose to hold her tongue. The knowledge that Ella had been engaged and broken up with was surprising new information that snagged her focus.

“Yeah,” Ella said quietly. Her gaze held Max’s, wistful and laced with regret. It was the natural time to end the conversation, for Ella to say goodnight. Tell Max she’d see her next week. Yet, she hadn’t moved.

Max did, though. She took a step into Ella’s space, and for what felt like a minute, but also five hundred years, they breathed in the same air. “I’m going to do us a favor and get in my car and drive away before I do something I want to but shouldn’t.”

She took four steps before the sound of Ella’s voice stopped her. “Max?”

“Yeah?” She said, turning back and offering a small smile.

Ella wrapped her arms around herself and shifted her weight. “Nothing.”

Max drove home, wondering what Ella was about to say, hating that their moments together only existed within the narrow confines of what they were allowed to say or do.

They were two grown people who seemed to want the same thing, and yet, they were sidelined.

She allowed herself to drift back to that one night, not too long ago, where they’d shared a moment free of any external constraint.

She turned up the song on the radio and let the music drown out the rest of the world so she could remember the feeling of Ella’s lips pressed to hers, the sound of her laugh, and the tucked-away hope she’d carried with her in the days after.

It had been so nice while it had lasted.

She sat at the red light and closed her eyes. So very nice.