Page 23 of Pick Me

“Why are we waiting in a line that’s twenty people deep for bagels?” I quietly complained to Meredith and Colton. “There’s

a bagel shop on every corner at home.”

“Yeah, but they’re not Goldberg’s bagels,” Colton said. “You gotta do local shit when you’re in Sag Harbor.”

I glanced around at the crowd. “Are there actually locals around here, or are they too smart to come into town during a holiday

weekend?”

The two of them fit right in among the fancy folks queued up on the sidewalk for breakfast sandwiches, although more than

a few people looked like they could use some hair of the dog. We’d arrived the night before, so late that it technically could

be qualified as early, which meant we’d gone right to bed. Tonight was the big night.

“I’m just so happy to be naked,” Meredith said, wiggling a Tory Burch flip-flop in the air. “Perfect timing to be boot-free.”

“You still need to take it easy,” I cautioned. “Sneakers would be a better choice.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she grumbled. “Just let me be cute for this weekend, okay?”

Colton pulled her close and kissed her on the cheek. “Never not cute.” He squinted across the street to where another crowd was forming. “Is that one of the Housewives? The one who sings about Pinot Noir and fancy cars?”

I craned my neck to see. “Yup, that’s her. First celebrity sighting of the weekend. Colton is officially on the leaderboard.”

I loved that despite all of Colton’s finance-bro energy, he wasn’t afraid to embrace the goofy stuff we enjoyed. Bonding over

showmances and villain edits made it easier being their third wheel.

“So beach day today?” Meredith asked as we inched forward. “Perfect weather for it.”

“Don’t hate me—I know it’s ridiculous—but I need to get some writing done,” I replied.

“Oh, come on, it’s a holiday weekend,” Colton whined. “Come for a half day at least.”

“He’s right,” Meredith piled on. “You can take a couple hours to recharge and then do it.”

I shook my head. “Not possible for me. I’d sit there and stress about not working and wind up having a crappy time. But if

I write first and manage to kick some ass, then I’ll meet you.” I paused. “I’ll do it poolside, so it feels a little vacationy.”

Meredith pushed her sunglasses on her head and looked beyond us. “Um, I think you’re going to have a very successful writing

session.”

“Yes, exactly. Thanks for manifesting it for me.”

“No,” she hissed. “ Muse alert!”

I froze. “Where?”

“Coming up the sidewalk behind you.”

Colton went on his tiptoes and craned his neck as if he’d never taken part in a covert gossip mission in his life. “I know the guys he’s with. One of them is a host for tonight.”

Meredith squeezed my arm. “Which guarantees he’s going to be there.”

I leaned closer to her, tilting my head back and smiling widely. “Teeth and nose check, quick!”

“All clear, you’re good.”

The three of us stood there watching Kai and his friends amble closer. I hadn’t seen him in ages, but the butterflies were

back in full force.

Muse status intact.

“So do you want me to say hi or...?” Colton asked, glancing between us.

Meredith rolled her eyes. “Do you even understand the responsibilities of a wingman? Seriously, Colton. Yes. Of course.”

“Please,” I added.

Meredith undid the top button of my green stripey blouse and pushed the collar open, then adjusted my twisted gold necklaces.

“Perfect. You look adorable.”

“Thanks.”

“Okay, incoming,” Colton said under his breath, stepping out of line to intercept the trio. “Heyyyy, who let the troublemakers

in?”

They went through a series of handshakes and backslaps before turning their attention to us. “Guys, meet my girlfriend, Meredith,

and our friend Brooke.” He turned to point at them. “This is Tyler, Zach, and Kai .”

He practically wiggled his eyebrows at me as he said the name. I wanted to punch him for his lack of chill.

“You again.” Kai smiled at me. “We keep running into each other. You’re a member at CPA, right?”

“We all are,” Meredith lied for me. “But the last time I was there, I fractured my foot. We ran into you in the lobby, remember?”

“ Right , of course.” He nodded. “Grip was taking care of you.”

“Yup, Brooke’s taking lessons with him now,” Colton said. “Twice a week.”

“He said she’s really good,” Meredith added.

They were a combination of hype man and PR strategist, and I loved them for it. All I had to do was try to look cute.

“Oh, no way,” Kai said with admiration in his voice. “Gripper is the best. And you must be good, because he’s super picky

about who he takes on. I practically had to audition to get him to work with me! He off-loads to Brandon if he doesn’t think

you’re good enough.”

It was news to me.

“You folks ready to get crazy tonight or what?” Tyler tried to punch Colton in the stomach, but he ducked away too quickly.

Meredith and I exchanged a look. We’d already agreed to bail if the party wound up going Wolf of Wall Street . My hope was to get my Kai time early enough that things were still sober and civil, although thanks to the unexpected meeting,

I had a head start.

“We’re ready to enjoy a fun evening,” Meredith answered with a prim smile. “The weather’s perfect, the company is great—”

“The drinks will be flowing,” Zach added. “Plenty of party favors too.”

I glanced at Meredith again. Yeah, I definitely wasn’t down to hang with a bunch of strangers tripping balls. I glanced at

Kai to see how keen he seemed to just say yes to illicit substances, but he didn’t respond.

“Did you guys eat breakfast? Want to join us?” Colton asked.

The people in line behind grumbled at the possibility of three extra people between them and their bagels.

“Would love to,” Kai answered as he glanced my way, “but we need to run a couple errands to get ready. We can hang tonight

and gossip about the Big Gripper. He’s supposed to come, by the way. I invited him. Last minute, but he said he might make

it.”

My mouth dropped open. Owen was going to be at the party too? That made my mission even easier!

“Later,” Zach said, reaching out to do a complicated handshake with Colton. “Nice to meet you both.”

We waited until they were out of sight to begin the download.

“He was totally checking you out,” Meredith said under her breath.

“I saw it too.”

Same. It was too obvious not to notice it.

“So how does this muse thing happen? Explain it to me,” Colton said as we moved forward a half step. “Is it like a bolt of

lightning?”

“No,” I answered quickly, even though it sort of was. “I can’t figure it all out myself. It’s sort of hard to believe that

this is my first time dealing with major writer’s block.”

“Thanks, Leo ,” Meredith sneered.

“Yeah, I never liked him,” Colton added.

“Usually I’m in the right headspace to churn out the happiest of happily ever afters,” I continued. “But what Leo did to me...

it broke me.”

We all jealously eyed a family walking out of Goldberg’s digging into their bagels.

“And Kai fixed you, like that?” Colton snapped his fingers.

“Hardly.” Meredith laughed, since she was well acquainted with my ongoing struggle. “But he has the potential to.”

“Exactly.” I nodded. “He’s like my embodiment of hope. After feeling absolutely devastated, all of a sudden my heart woke

up when I saw him.”

“Cue the prolific writing?” Colton asked.

I gave him a wry smile. “That’s what I’m banking on.”

Colton winced. “Damn. That’s a lot of pressure on a regular-ass guy. What if he turns out to be shitty?”

Meredith gave me a pointed look.

“I’m not considering that an option.”

He cocked an eyebrow at me and let out a low whistle.

“I mean, it’s looking pretty darn positive.” Meredith slid her arm around my shoulder as we moved closer to the door. “And

now I totally support you being a loser and working today. Based on what just happened, the words are going to fall out of you.”

Two hours later I was discovering just how wrong she was.

I had everything on my side: a full belly, an absolutely stunning poolside setting beneath a cloudless sky, with bay breezes

blowing in, and the promise of something magical once the sun set.

Nothing was working for me. My finger was basically camped out above the backspace key. I was desperate to give Austin and Abby some

quality time, not only because of the ticking clock but also because I loved the two of them together. They deserved an HEA,

but before I could get there, I needed to put a baby in Abby so they could break apart over the unexpected pregnancy, then

come together.

The problem was, they needed to have sex in order to make the damn baby.

I fell back in the chair and hugged my knees. Kai was right there, closer than he’d ever been, which should’ve ignited all sorts of sexy possibilities inside of me. We’d flirted, with

witnesses! Or he’d flirted, and I’d received it frozen and wide-eyed. But still, it felt like we were on our way to something .

So why was I still stuck?

I glanced over at the sunny-yellow notebook next to my laptop. As I was falling asleep, I’d come up with a solution to my

alicorn-taming problem that created an opportunity to introduce a new ally character. She was the perfect catalyst for a reveal

a few chapters later, and I’d already taken notes to fully figure her out. It was fine for her to hang out in the wings, named,

fully formed, and ready to take part in some fun and games, until it was safe for me to open up my Archer manuscript. Which, given my rate of Austin output, was never.

But tonight, everything was going to change. Kai and I were at chapter one of our very own HEA. The fluttery, delicious unknown

that started every great romance. We’d begin the evening as acquaintances, and if I had my way, we’d end it half dressed.

I frowned as I thought through the actual logistics of the night ahead. A drunken holiday rager wasn’t exactly a great launching

pad for sexy-yet-tender moments. But maybe he’d be the type to appreciate escaping the madness for some beverages under the

moonlight?

Who knew what he was into? The fact was, Kai was a stranger to me.

A hot-as-hell stranger, but still, an unknown outside of his pickleball prowess.

There was a gigantic chance that I was pinning my work output on a fantasy version of him.

For all I knew, he could hate dogs, be rude to service workers, and think the Earth is flat.

I glanced at my pitiful word count. All I could do was bank on my gut being right and hope that my fading creative spark would

eventually become a bonfire.