“He’s been texting,” she adds. “Calling, leaving messages at the clinic. He says he wants to fix it, but I don’t know, Cat. I reallydon’t know. Marriage is forever, right? And if I’m even a little unsure… how can I say yes to forever?”
I nod. “Youcan’t. Not until you feel right about it. You’re doing the smart thing.”
Her eyes fill, but she blinks the tears away. “We’ve been together six years. Six, Cat. He’s all I know. He’s been part of my life for so long, I don’t even know what life looks like without him.”
I scoot closer and rest my head against her shoulder. “That doesn’t mean you owe him your future.”
She lets out a shaky laugh. “When did you get so wise?”
“Probably around the time I started managing twenty grown men with the emotional intelligence of opossums,” I say with a grin. “Also, I am your older sister, you know?”
She laughs for real this time, and I swear it lights up the whole room.
“I love you, you know,” she says.
I bump her shoulder. “I love you more.”
There’s a soft pause, the kind that invites secrets.
Marianna shifts and gives me a sly look. “So… how about you? Are you seeing anyone? Any of those opossums taking up your time?”
I burst out laughing. “Oh my God, let’s not let the opossum thing stick.”
“Well? Seriously. How do you keep your distance from those hot-ass guys? I couldn’t stop staring today. They’re all so…perfectly muscular. Like action figures but with real sweat.”
I laugh again and shake my head. “I don’t think any of them even notice I exist most of the time.”
Marianna gasps. “Lina, please. You’re gorgeous and smart and funny. You’re literallythedream girl.”
I roll my eyes, but my cheeks warm anyway.
“What about Rogue?” she adds, grinning now. “He’s so hot. Broody, cloudy, carved-by-the-gods kind of hot. Like he fell straight out of whatever planet Thor is from.”
“Asgard,” I mumble.
“Exactly. I saw him watching you today.”
“There’s no way,” I say, brushing the thought off even though it’s already taken root. “He’s… I mean, yeah, he’s been polite and surprisingly nice, considering how famous he is and everything, but he’snotinto me.”
“I don’t know,” Marianna says, drawing out each word. “Hedidseem a little into you today. How old is he, anyway?”
“I don’t know. Thirty-six? Thirty-seven?”
“Mmmm,” she hums dramatically. “Anage gap daddy. I think you should go for it.”
“Okay, no. Absolutely not.” I laugh and toss a Nerds Cluster at her face.
She catches it midair like a smug little gremlin. “What? You’d be adorable together. Sunshine and grump, a classic.”
I shake my head, still smiling, and shift under the blankets. Rogue might set my pulse racing, but Veil is easier, safer. A place where I can just be me, not the girl responsible for keeping a legend’s image intact, the one having to hold it all together. Just… me.
“Actually,” I say after a beat, “I have been talking to someone.”
Her head whips toward me so fast I’m surprised she doesn’t strain something. “Excuse me?Who? When? Why am I only hearing about this now?”
“It’s not a big deal,” I say, suddenly shy. “It’s just this guy. We matched on Veil.”
Marianna’s jaw drops. “Wait, Veil? Have you seen him yet?”
