“It seems like the main part of the process.”
Milo laughed, the sound twisting something inside of her she’d rather have never known was there.
“Hanna!” Sara’s voice echoed off the walls below as she closed the front door behind her.
Hanna popped her head out of the loft to see Sara holding a bouquet of sunflowers wrapped in kraft paper in one hand, and a second arrangement in the other. As Hanna raced down the stairs, she recognized the teal mason jar.
“Kind of rude of Milo to show me up like that,” Sara muttered, pointing to the amber bottle beside the arrangement. “I grabbed these on the way home.” She wiggled the bouquet in her hands.
“Add them in!” Hanna said, pulling the bottle from the kitchen counter. A handwritten label across the front read The Lisa Anniversary Blend. Sweet as hell, bites when necessary.
“Menace,” Hanna whispered under her breath. Sara leaned over and giggled, unwrapping the flowers she’d picked up.
“You’re so in trouble,” Sara said.
NINE
“Another?”
The server at the cafe across the street from the loft suspended her pot halfway between them. Hanna watched the burnt coffee grounds swirl at the bottom of the pot.
"Thanks," she said, folding her book and resting it on the table as she slid her mug closer. She’d been working all morning and finally had finally taken a break to read a bit.
“Hanna!” Her head snapped up, Chloe’s fiery red hair barrelling toward her, Milo trailing closely behind.
“Oh, hey guys,” Hanna said. Chloe slipped into the booth across from her. She reached for Hanna’s book and flipped it over.
“Oh my god, I just finished this series. It’s so good,” Chloe said.
Milo slid into the booth next to Chloe, nudging her over the same way he did on the couch during movies and baseball games. They’d only left the same arrangement twelve hours ago, Chloe’s feet tucked under her body as they’d passed boxes of wings back and forth. Hanna tried not to wonder if Chloe had gone home before showing back up for lunch.
Not that it was any of her business.
“I love it so far,” Hanna said. “Sara ripped through them all in, like, two weeks.”
“Can’t blame her. You’re just about to hit the really good parts,” she giggled.
“Pervs,” Milo said, stealing a sip of Hanna’s coffee.
“I don’t know how you two drink that diner coffee black,” Chloe said, reaching for one of the stuck-together menus parked behind a decades-old napkin holder.
“It’s the whiskey,” Hanna said. “He’s destroyed my taste buds since getting here.”
“You two are just so tough,” Chloe mocked. “I’m looking at the pastry case. Need anything?”
“Nah,” Milo said.
“I was asking Hanna,” Chloe replied.
“I’m good,” Hanna said.
“We’re not intruding on your date with a shadow daddy, are we?” Milo asked, snagging her book. He flipped it over and cracked it to a random page. Hanna blushed preemptively. It didn’t matter what page he opened to. There was bound to be something on it she’d never have the courage to read out loud.
“Jesus,” Milo gasped. It was rare to catch a pink blush on him, but whatever he read did the trick. He closed the book and set it back down on the table. “I didn’t know you got down like that, Arizona.”
“Yeah well, you wouldn’t, would you?” she asked, raising a brow.
Whatever she’d awoken in him flashed across his eyes in a sparkling ignition. He leaned close, the heat of his breath on her neck.
