“That boy wasted no time.”Jamie reached across the table to grab my hand. “He’s quick but he has excellent taste.”
“Oh my god,” Audrey breathed, leaning in to get a look. “Love a cushion cut.”
Grace watched me as she unpacked her lunch. She’d been excited last night when I’d messaged her with all the news—the engagement, the flooded apartment, the move to Ryan’s place—but also asked more than once if I was sure about this, if this was what I wanted.
It was easy to say yes, for two reasons. First, I was sure—in a very wobbly, deer-in-the-headlights sort of way. Especially when Ryan let loose comments about me being legally entitled to condos and god only knew what else. As if there was any corner of my mind where that information belonged. I was closer to reconciling with the fact that there were feelings between us that weren’t purely platonic.
Second—and definitely not the most well-adjusted reason—I’d learned since breaking up with Teddy how to give Graceexactly enough information for her to believe I was doing all right and not ask too many questions. I had to be okay, because if I wasn’t, she’d start making noises about calling off her wedding again.
Carrying that responsibility on my shoulders was the hardest thing I’d ever done for her, and that was saying something because back in college I tweezed eight ticks from her thighs and butt cheeks.
If college taught me anything, it was to liberally apply bug sprayall overwhen camping (and having sex while camping) in the Vermont woods during the summer.
Setting aside my work as Tick Tweezer Extraordinaire, it was a damn good thing that I wasn’t still rotting in bed and ranting at rom-coms because I would’ve run myself into the ground hiding it from her.
That first month or two without her in the apartment had been so tough. I’d missed her like a limb—and I knew it was the same for her because we’d spent hours on the phone every night. We’d video call to eat dinner together or watch our usual TV shows. Or we’d talk about nothing while folding laundry or scrolling apps.
We didn’t do that anymore.
Part of me wondered whether this was the natural evolution of things. Even under perfect circumstances, things were bound to change as we grew up, moved, settled into serious relationships.
But the other part of me wondered whether Grace heard herself all those times she threatened to cancel the wedding. If she knew what it meant to put that weight on me. If she understood that it wasn’t fair to ask that of me.
We’d always said we’d never let a man come between us.
Strange to think how Teddy was the asshat to prove us wrong.
We’d chatted as I settled into the second-floor suite, which I’d chosen mostly because my body was not in friendly form. I required some space and some privacy, and the flexibility to visit the bathroom as many times throughout the night as necessary and without explanation. And I’d needed time to sort through the endless stream of packages from boutiques and high-end department stores to find something suitable for second-grade life.
“I don’t want to get engaged but I wouldn’t complain about someone giving me a ring like this,” Jamie said. “How do I arrange that? How didyoupull it off?”
“He adores her,” Grace said simply.
I smiled at her though I shook my head. “Don’t exaggerate. We’ve been friends since?—”
“He always has,” Grace repeated. “Come on, you know it’s true.”
“She’s right,” Jamie said. “I knew it was serious when he rolled up with her coffeeandjuice. Don’t even get me started on the forehead kiss.”
“Why do I always miss these things?” Audrey grumbled. “I love forehead kisses.”
I poked at my lunch while they mythologized Ryan’s visit to the school. For once, I had an actual lunch of fruits and crackers, cheeses and meats that appeared in his fridge sometime during my hour-long soak in the bath of wonder and amazement. If he’d introduced me to that tub two months ago, I would’ve agreed to marry him on the spot.
“Not to be that bitch but has this moved a little quick?” Jamie asked. “I’m not saying it’s wrong. You know I’m all in and I have been since the start but have y’all come up for air?”
“We’ve known each other for a little more than half our lives,” I said. “It’s not like we’re starting at the ground floor. I think that makes a big difference.”
“They know everything about each other,” Grace said. “They know each other’s families with encyclopedic detail. Their inside jokes have inside jokes.”
“I can’t decide if that’s really fucking rad or something to be studied by scientists,” Jamie said.
“It’s rad,” Grace said. “The first time I met Ryan, I found myself getting annoyed at how often he interrupted her but then I realized she was doing it just as much. They constantly jump into each other’s thoughts.”
“Putting on my older sister cap for a second,” Audrey said. “Relationship timelines tend to shorten in your thirties. You know if there’s a connection on the first date, you know if there’s a future by the third. It’s not unusual to hear from my friends that they were talking about marriage, kids, all of it early on.”
“I had no idea instalove was a byproduct of aging,” Jamie said. “Fascinating species, the monogamous.”
“I mean, is it instalove or is it being real?” Grace asked. “Remember how Ben was in a situation with someone else when I met him and?—”
