“Okay”—Kayla interjects—“let’s pivot to the wedding. Since you two are the best man and maid of honor, we wanted to run a few things past you.” She glances at Chase, who presses a kiss to her temple. The disgustingly sweet display is enough to make me lose my appetite for dessert. “We’re thinking Memorial Day, back in Fort Bender.”
“That’s only seven months away!” Ashlie gasps, counting on her phone’s calendar. “We have to pull all of this together in seven months?”
“Yeah,” Chase says. “We’ll need to hit the ground running. We just felt like that wasthedayand didn’t want to wait another year.”
Like waiting one more year when you’ve been together for five is a big deal.But what do I know? I don’t do relationships.These two, on the other hand? They’re inseparable. A wedding is just a formality at this point.
Kayla and Chase first met in Fort Bender, where Ashlie and I had a front-row seat to their summer love story. They’re different in almost every way—Black and white, reserved and sociable, pessimist and optimist, no-nonsense and goofy as hell—but it works for them.
“I’m ready for whatever you need.” Ashlie reaches across the table for Kayla’s hand. “I can fly up to San Francisco on the weekends or find vendors in Bender… Ooh, I bet Samson would do your flowers in a heartbeat! Just tell me what else you need, and I’m on it.”
“Same. My mandatory day in the office moved to Wednesdays, so I can take off for the weekends whenever,” I offer.
The waiter clears our plates and brings the check while we hammer out a few more details. We say our goodbyes in the parking lot, the cool October wind breezing around us as we dole out hugs and handshakes. After another round of congratulations, Kayla and Chase walk off to their rental car. They fly back to San Francisco in the morning.
“Alright,honey bear. I’ll see you for lunch on Wednesday!” I tease, dodging her incoming swat at me.
“Boy, if you don’t leave me alone…” She shakes her head, laughing.
“Are you gonna make me do that anytime we bump into one of your exes? Because I will. We just need to get our backstory straight.”
“I think the one I used will work just fine, thank you very much!” Her shoulder swat connects this time before we’re both doubled over, laughing at the ridiculous end to the night. Still smiling, she holds up her fist. “Really, though. Thanks for having my back, Hunt.”
I meet her fist with mine. “I got you. Always… You good, though?”
“Yeah. I’m okay.” She smiles again and climbs behind the wheel of her little red hatchback, but I see in her eyes how shaken she is from running into that manipulative motherfucker again.
Ashlie and I met that same summer in Fort Bender, back when she was still with Bryan. She was safe—off-limits—and she could see straight through my bullshit. Over the years, she’s become one of my best friends. I’d do anything for her, including fending off overeager exes.
I wait for her to drive away before crossing the parking lot. When I get in my car, the scent of jasmine on my shirt collar conjures too many memories. The fragrance is faint, but it’s there, transporting my mind back to the first time I was close enough to smell her perfume. A time we both promised we’d never talk about again. I won’t say a word to anyone about that night, but I’ll damn sure think about it the entire drive home. After all, I’ve been in love with my best friend for the last five years.
CHAPTER FOUR
ASHLIE
Stomach growling, I take another look at the digital clock on the wall. The orange glow from the Fit4U logo highlights all the disheveled tanks hanging up there, and I make a mental note to fix them after lunch. I would have eaten by now, but Wednesdays are lunch days with Hunter.And he needs to hurry the hell up. Breathing out a long sigh, I glance out the tinted window, my hands moving on autopilot to fold the legging display. This job gets more tedious when I’m hangry.
The cash register across the room beeps as my coworker, Hannah, rings up the heavily muscled man at the counter. She’s giggled so many times, I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t have a tickle in her throat by the time he takes his bag of supplements out the door. These two flirt multiple days a week. It’s so damn cute to watch.
Being a manager at Fit4U for the past year has left me more relaxed than I ever was in the classroom. This athleisure company isn’t anything fancy, and gets a little boring sometimes, but I don’t leave in tears every day like I did when I was teaching first grade. Talk about feeling like a failure.
The kids were adorably hilarious, but the constant pressure from everyone else was insurmountable. As hard as it was to accept, leaving that environment was worth the risk of disappointing my parents. I stayed four years, just long enough to have my student loans forgiven.
“Have a nice day.” I wave at the man. He smiles as he passes by, moving his headphones over his ears before walking out into the sunshine.
Hannah comes straight over to me with wide eyes, her usually pale cheeks as red as the neon Open sign above the door. “That was his second time in here this week!” She bounces on her toes, her blond bob swinging as she clutches her hands.
“And did you talk to him this time?” I ask. “You know he only comes in here to see you.”
“I asked him how his day was, and then my brain turned to mush.”
“Ooh, girl! You got it bad!” I tease, straightening the case of supplements as I pass by. Might as well fix those tanks on the wall while I wait.
Olivia’s sneakers squeak on the orange vinyl flooring as she comes out of the stockroom, carrying a box of our newest zip-ups. One sleek, black braid lays over her shoulder, and she flicks it behind her when she reaches the counter. “Was that Hottie McMuscles I heard?” she asks Hannah, whose cheeks are still flushed. The two of them squeal and giggle about Hannah’s failed attempt to talk to the musclehead while they tackle the box.
Chiming snaps my attention to the door, and in walks Hunter, wearing a dark blue EdTechU polo and khakis. His short dark curls dance briefly as the gust of air pressure breezes over him, like he’s the star of his own rom-com. If it wasn’t Hunter, I’d say he was attractive. But itishim, and he doesn’t need any kind of ego boosts. Even if they’re silent ones in my head.
“Hey, Hunter,” Olivia croons dreamily, flipping her braid back over her shoulder. She pets it like a precious mink as he struts closer. Hannah waves, her cheeks flaming the same deep red as before. I roll my eyes. These young college students fawn over him every week as if he wouldn’t completely devastate them.
