“Oh, Brooke...” she said once I finished. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’ve been so wrapped up in my—”
“Stop,” I interrupted. “Life is crazy right now; it’s okay.”
She leaned over to squeeze my hand. “Do you want to dissect, digest, or distract?”
“Distract. I’ve already dissected everything down to the marrow. Owen still thinks I’m into Kai, end of story.”
“So he’s not responding at all?”
I shook my head.
“I mean, I get it,” I added. “He got hurt really badly with that horse girl. But he won’t even hear me out.”
“Can you blame him? You were pretty relentless about Kai.”
“The idea of Kai,” I corrected.
“Yeah, well, he didn’t know that. All he could see was someone he was pining for, pining for someone else.”
“You think he waspiningfor me?”
Her expression shifted to “are you fucking kidding me.” “Brooke, the guy has been giving you free pickleball lessons for weeks now. You had a horse date in New Jersey. C’mon. And have you forgotten about the Hamptons gropefest? He’s been into you since the day I fractured my foot.”
“It’s all my fault,” I said mournfully. “I’m an asshole.”
“Maybe a little...” She wrinkled her nose at me.
I didn’t laugh.
“So what happens next?” Meredith asked.
“Before everything blew up, I told him I’d get back to him about his chapter summaries for the book he’s writing. I’m not sure he wants my feedback at this point, but I have ideas that could really help him. And he’s done so much for me, so...”
“Everything is going to work out. I have a good feeling,” Meredith said sagely as she leaned back in her chair.
“Not if he won’t talk to me,” I said mournfully.
“You’ll find a way to get through to him.”
“Carrier pigeon?”
“Why not?” She chuckled. “We’re both in an uncomfortabletransition stage, but this is where the growth happens. You’re done with Liaison for a reason. Now you can focus on—”
“Not being able to afford rent,” I finished for her.
She harrumphed at me. “You can focus on yourrealbook.”
“While I go broke.”
“Not gonna happen,” she said over her mug. “Better days are coming.”
Her phone rang. “Yup, it’s Colton, looking for the update.”
I decided to check my email, to see if the dire legal stuff from Liaison had ended up in my inbox yet.
My vision went hazy for a few seconds, because the only new message was from Celeste, and the subject line was “Archer—OMFG!!!!!!!”
Chapter Forty
