“In here!” Rowan calls out.
Strutting in comes Luca and Nico, holding up six packs of glass bottled sodas. I chuckle at the safe replacement for beer.
“We brought drinks!” Luca announces.
“And the other couch!” Nico says.
I watch the two of them. On the surface, they seem normal and amicable. But Lana and I both know, and maybe everyone else, there’s an unspoken secret. Nico and Isabelle have kept their crushes quiet, never acting on them for Luca’s sake because of the outdated “bro code.” All of us think it’s fine as long as they’re happy, but we don’t say it out loud, much less to Luca.
“What the fuck,” Julian hisses and stands from the couch, glaring at me. “How many fucking couches do you need?”
“As many as it takes.”
“When are you going to show it to her?” Luca asks, popping off the metal cap on a Coke bottle and handing it to me.
“Later this week, I hope.” I take a long, delicious sip of the ice cold soda. “If you all stopslacking.”
“How did you know about the furniture?” Nico asks.
And, in sync, Rowan, Julian, Luca, and I say, “Pinterest.”
“You think she’ll like it?” I ask shyly, using my thumbnail to pick at the wrapper around the glass.
“Yes,” Nico says. “But you know her better than any of us. You already know she will.”
Luca takes a sip and asks, “And you’re hosting her birthday party here?”
I shrug. “Yeah? I don’t know. She always celebrates mine and… You guys tried to…”
Rowan frowns. “We tried every year.”
“I know,” I rasp. “That makes me feel better.”
“She was taken care of,” Luca adds quietly.
“I know.”
I feel a clap on my back and I know it is from Julian. “Don’t think about it,” he says. “Come on. We got work to do.”
“Finish up your soda, kids,” Rowan sighs and chugs the last of his soda. “Time to get back to work.”
The good thing about my friends is that we can be emotional together. We can say things without risking judgment. Whether we’re angry, crying, heartbroken—none of that matters because we support each other. Always have.
In New York, I missed that. And having it today with them as we work to set the furniture for my and Lana’s house is settling. Calming and familiar.
It is another one of the things I had been missing.
And this house…
Later this week, I can finally show her the house of her dreams. And I can tell her it’s all ours. That we did it.
CHAPTER 32
Lana
It’s almost lunch time in Books and Beans on a Thursday, so I wipe the tables while we are still in the calm before the storm. It’s usually after the lunch time rush when Christian brings me lunch and we sit at a table in the corner, happy and alone.
Sometimes he makes sandwiches or brings in food from Rowan’s restaurant. Sometimes he comes in after the gym with shakes or some balanced meal I’m learning (trying) to love.
