Page 97 of Sugar

I enjoyed how greedy he was with my time.

Usually.

But I didn’t want to ditch out on Wren when it was clearly important.

I just had to hope he was cool with me ditching him instead.

It was that or clone myself to be in two places at once. And I just didn’t think the world could handle two Maddie Bakers.

“That works for me,” I said.

Hopefully.

I smiled at my surprisingly anxious friend. It wasn’t an emotion I saw often from her, and that—along with her dodginess over text—sounded the alarm in my head. “But are you okay?”

She sighed. “I really like him. And I want you guys to like him.”

“We always like the guys you date,” Greer said. Which was true. We weren’t bitchy besties who talked shit and tried to sabotageany and all happiness. We were girl’s girls, and Wren made that easy. A point Greer also added. “You have good taste.”

“Except Rocco,” I interjected, bringing up the senior she’d dated as a freshman.

“Oof, we don’t talk about him,” Wren said. “Plus, we weren’t dating. We were seeing each other for three brief yet smarmy weeks. This is different. Chris asked me to be his girlfriend.”

“And?”

“And I said yes, of course. So now I want you guys to meet him and adore him like I do because I really,reallylike him.”

“So you’ve said.”

“Okay, I really, really,reallylike him.”

“I’m sure we will, too.” Greer leaned in. “What’s the plan?”

“I figured a bar. That gives us the opportunity to hang out and chat without it being high pressure. But dinner would set an unofficial timeframe if it’s not going well.”

“It’ll go fine. A bar sounds perfect.” She hesitated for a moment. “Would it help if I invite Josh to take some pressure off?”

I wish I could invite Easton.

I ignored the reckless thought to focus on whacking my friend. Only in the arm, though, not the face.

“Hey,ouch.”

“You told me to hit you the next time you talked about seeing him. Technically, you said for me to slap you silly, which I can do if you would like.”

“You did say that,” Wren backed me up. “You said you want to actually move on.”

“That was before. He’s been different lately. I think he realized that I was actually ending things, and it freaked him out.”

“Good. As it should.” Wren gave a frenzied nod. “But also, yes, please invite him.”

As they talked more, I pulled my phone out. My last message to Easton was still unseen. It was my turn to double text as I added another.

Me: So, I know the rule is that time with you comes first, and we have plans tonight. But would it be okay if I missed them? Wren sprung something on me that’s kinda pretty important.

I started to add that I would make it up to him, but I didn’t want to sound desperate.

Even if I very much so was.