I glanced at the time. "Gosh, I better get going. I promised Amelia I would help out with the party favors. Lord knows what Liam did to get out of that. I swear she's only told him to show up and what time it starts!"
"Hey, he did a pretty good job picking out his tux."
I sent him a dry look. "Pre-approved by Amelia?"
He held his hands up, his mouth twisting in contained enjoyment. "You got me there. C'mon, let me give you a ride home."
We spent a further ten minutes talking and laughing outside the house before Amelia texted that I could make out with Harrison later, reminding me of the mammoth party favor task we had to do.
She's fucking hilarious.
Later in bed, after stuffing silk pouches with seeds and herbal tea, I decided to wind down by switching on reruns ofFriends. When an episode came on that reminded me of how redundant I felt "planning" the reunion, I grabbed my phone.
Giggling to myself, I sent Harrison a small clip that I found on YouTube where Monica and Phoebe were supposed to be planning Rachel's surprise birthday party together. Instead, Monica took over the planning and relegated Phoebe to cups and ice.
Grace:Since everything else is sorted for the reunion, shall I be in charge of cups and ice?
Harrison:Should I be expecting frozen slushies and cup decor?
Grace:Everyone loves a snow cone machine!
He then made me laugh out loud when he sent a meme with Phoebe showing Chandler the different types of ice she provided for the party.
I grinned as my thumb flew across my phone. For the next half hour, we sent each other memes, laughing heartily and giving one another shit at our responses.
I was impressed by how manyFriends-basedmemes were available online for the perfect response, and I had fun bringing up the character's witty bantering.
Initially, I didn't think too much of our comical exchange. I was having way too much fun getting lost in eachdingnotification on my phone.
Until, out of the blue, a long-buried memory suddenly hit me like a brick to the head. All humor left me as I recalled exactlywhohad introduced Harrison to the popular sitcom all those years ago.
Harrison:You ok over there? It's okay if you wanna wave the white flag ;)
I stared at my phone for a moment as a hollow feeling of pity started to weigh me down. I kicked myself that I, again, allowed the past to seep through, essentially knocking the wind out of my sails.
Despite my melancholy mood, I responded—but not before deleting my original response.
Grace:Sorry, almost fell asleep. My long day is catching up to me.
It was a half-truth. When I first texted him, I was on the cusp of falling asleep. Talking with Harrison felt effortless, and it wasn't long before I caught my second wind. If I hadn't been lost in my morose feelings, I would've continued our text war a lot longer.
Harrison:Yeah, I need to hit the sack, too. Liam wants to meet up to try our suits. I'll say goodnight now, Gracie x
My thumb brushed against his words on my screen.
"Goodnight," I whispered.
CHAPTER 9
Overthenextweekand a bit, Harrison and I met four times to "discuss" the reunion.
James and Ruth hadn't shown their faces again, always claiming some random excuse for missing the meeting. I was pretty sure if one of them couldn't make it, the other surely could—but I didn't want to call out the obvious. After the third evening of the couple being a no-show, I stopped enquiring after them.
The truth was, I enjoyed my quiet evenings with Harrison. I wouldn't go so far as to say I looked forward to them, but I couldn't deny that I spent most of the day in a sort of anticipatory fervor.
Harrison was entertaining, witty, and insightful. We made each other laugh, and I was surprised that we had a lot to shoot the shit about, given that, until recently, we lived very different and separate lives.
I had also come to realize another more pressing and concerning issue—I was a little more than attracted to Harrison. In being that: I wanted to bang his brains out.
