Claire and I make our way over to one of the couches and sit while we wait.
“You excited for our date tonight?” I ask.
“I am, but are you sure you can’t give me any hints as to what we’re doing?”
“No.” I chuckle.
“Just one little itty bitty small hint?” She pinches her fingers together.
“You really hate surprises don’t you?”
“I’m just excited. You’ve been talking such a big game about your plans, so now I’m dying to know if the date’s going to live up to all of the hype.”
“It will. I promise.”
She pulls her phone out of her pocket and smiles.
“Aster and Lolly?” I ask.
“Yeah.” She continues smirking as she reads the texts.
“You guys have been texting?”
“After last night, I unmuted the group text,” she explains.
“So what’s going on with the girls?”
“Lolly is freaking out because she and Chip almost kissed this morning.”
“Is that so?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
“I know. Something about him coming over to borrow something, and they got stuck in the candy shop stock room together.”
Her phone buzzes again, and she taps against the screen.
“You know, it kind of feels like a sick joke that I found people who really seem like they could be my friends and we’re only going to be here for a couple of more nights.”
“I know. I’ve been thinking about that too.”
“Part of me wishes we could take them all back with us.”
Leaning over, I kiss her forehead and wish there was a way I could give her everything she deserves—family she’s close with, friends who care about her, her dreams coming true, and a love that would rival the best fairytales—but we can’t take the people here back to New York with us, and I fear that reality will hit us both harder than we think it will when it comes to fruition.
“Drinks are ready,” Joe calls. I stand, leaving Claire alone to walk over and pay for and retrieve our drinks.
“We still on for later?” Joe asks.
I glance over my shoulder to see that Claire is distracted byCami. “Yeah, thanks again for your help and for coordinating with the girls. I really appreciate it.”
“Anything for you two.” He smiles.
Cami walks away as I start to head back to where the girls were chatting, and Claire stands to meet me. “Here you go,” I say, handing off her latte.
“So, apparently, Aster is closing her shop to go debrief with Lolly about this almost kiss situation, and they really want me to come, but I don’t want to go if you had other plans.”
“That’s fine. I have some errands to run around here before tonight.”
“Errands? What do you have planned?”
