Page 128 of Try Hard

They exchanged a few more pleasantries and Andra left the call. Once she was gone, Rohanna’s smile shifted and became more amused.

Eve relaxed back in her seat, moving her arm to wrap around me and pull me closer into her side. “Don’t start now,” she warned with a laugh.

Rohanna let out a startled sound. “I didn’t say a thing!”

“You were about to.”

“Hey, you finally get the love of your life and I get introduced to her in a crisis meeting. The least you can do is let me be a good friend and admire how happy you are.”

“We’ll be happier when this whole thing is over.”

“Oh, sure. But it really says something that, even in the middle of all this, you’resohappy.”

I looked at Eve. She did seem blissful. Annoyed by the nonsense, but that was all external. Internally, she seemed content in a way I’d never seen her. It didn’t take a genius to figure out it was the exact same way I felt. And for the exact same reasons. Twenty years was a long time to wait for someone.

Without even thinking about it—as natural as breathing—I leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Eve’s lips. I’d never really engaged in PDA before her, but touching her, kissing her, loving her just came naturally, and I didn’t want Eve’s best friend to be another person we had to hide ourselves around.

“Oh, my god,” Rohanna squealed as Eve and I pulled apart. “I’m going to die at how cute you two are together.”

“Please don’t,” I said, not looking away from Eve. “We don’t have the bandwidth for more mess right now.”

They both laughed, and it was nice feeling like I belonged with Eve’s friends. Just like with her family, I was now slotting into life with her friends. Maybe it hadn’t been so wild to imagine all the ways we’d make it work back when I was still wishing I got to be the one loving her. There we were, making it happen.

“So,” Rohanna said, focusing on me, “how’s it been on your end? Eve said something about your bosses wanting to… cash in on your newly famous status.”

I scrunched my face up in a grimace. “Indeed. I’m quitting though. Already started working on my resignation letter. I have no interest in working for a company that sees me only as Eve Archer’s girlfriend they can exploit.”

“What are you going to do instead?”

I tried not to show how much my stomach clenched at that question. Ordinarily, I wasn’t the kind of person to jump ship without having something solid lined up to land on. This time, I had no fucking clue. But I’d figure it out.

I let out a steady breath as Eve kissed my shoulder reassuringly. “I don’t know yet. But, I have a strong CV and a decent number of industry contacts, so I’ll figure something out.”

Rohanna lit up as she bit her lip, eyes bouncing from me to Eve and back again. “Okay. So. I might… have a lead.”

“What?” Eve asked as I simply stared.

She wiggled her eyebrows, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “The person I’ve been… seeing is pretty high up over atIntentional Traveller—I don’t know how well you know it?”

“Really well,” I said slowly. It was actually my favourite travel magazine to read in recent years.

“Great! Well, yeah, she’s… kind of a massive fan of your work and has secretly been hoping she’d get to meet you since she found out you and Eve are dating—”

“So glad she knows so much about us when you won’t even tell me her name,” Eve said, laughing and relaxed.

Rohanna shot her a look before continuing. “So, if you wanted an introduction, I’m sure she’d be desperate to hire you. Honestly, I think she’s been trying to figure out how to headhunt you for years…”

I hadn’t been looking for Eve to have a contact that picked my professional life back up for me. I’d honestly have rather done it alone, just so she knew I wasn’t using her. But this simply seemed to be the stars aligning in a weirdly coincidental but wonderful way. So, I nodded. “Yeah. Not for a few days, but, once this whole thing settles, I’d actually love to meet her and see if it would be a good fit.”

Deep down, I already suspected it would be.Intentional Travellerwas just that—intentional.It aligned with so many things that I already worked into my writing. They’d probably be a great place to land.

Rohanna clapped her hands together. “Amazing! She’s going to be delighted.”

Eve was beaming at me but she paused to look at her best friend. “I thought you said she was a vendor you met through work.”

“Oh. Right.” For the first time, Rohanna seemed embarrassed. “I think I said through some business, right?”

“Unless you were buying us a business article in a travel magazine, I’m failing to see how that’s relevant.”