But she was proud of herself for mostly chilling. Ashley had a way of making the noise quiet, of anchoring her in a way few people could.
The doorbell rang, and both of them sat up like feral raccoons.
“Skillet cookie,” Ashley said reverently.
Ali grabbed the tip envelope from the nightstand. “Let’s go, baby.”
By Thursday afternoon, the sugar high had faded and the emails were relentless.
Ali sat at her desk, eyes glazed as she stared at a spreadsheet she’d opened four times and still hadn’t updated. Her office was quiet except for the low hum of the air conditioning and the faint tapping of someone’s keyboard down the hall.
Her phone buzzed across the desk, flashing
Dylan ??????
She smiled before she even picked it up.
She may have added the cute emojis next to his name in her contacts in the middle of Joe and Demi’s duet the other day—Ashley had clutched her heart and declared it “a spiritual experience.” Ali, overwhelmed by feelings (and sugar), had edited his contact mid-chorus.
No regrets.
She snatched it up like it might disappear.
“Hey, you,” she said, already smiling.
“Hey, baby,” came his voice—low, rough, and just the right kind of smug. “You busy?”
“Only emotionally. What’s up?”
She could hear him smile. “I’m coming to see you this weekend.”
Her brain short-circuited. “Wait—what?”
“I miss you, Ali. Like…it’s getting bad. I almost kissed my phone screen last night.”
Her stomach did a full somersault.
“I had to bribe Kallie with brunch and promise I’d finish a promo shoot early next week,” he went on. “But she cleared my schedule. I’m flying in Friday.”
Ali leaned back in her chair, the breath whooshing out of her like someone had opened a window in her chest.
“You’re really coming?”
“I’m really coming. I need you, sweetheart. I want a weekend of nothing but you. Pajamas and bad TV and me holding you so tight you forget what loneliness ever felt like.”
She bit her lip, her voice small but full of warmth. “You already do that. Just by calling.”
“Yeah, well,” he said, his voice thick now, “it’s not enough. I need to see your face without a screen between us.”
Ali blinked hard at the sudden sting behind her eyes. “I’ll stock up on junk food and cozy blankets.”
“And I’ll bring you breakfast in bed. Every damn morning.”
“You aresolucky I love you,” she whispered.
“I really am,” he said softly. “See you tomorrow, baby.”
They stayed on the line for a few more seconds—quiet, connected, not needing anything else.
