“Oh my God!” she yells, spinning on her heel. “Briana!”
Her voice echoes down the hall. “She’s going to Rogue’s apartment! We need all hands on deck!”
Two seconds later, they are in my doorway, firing questions like rapid fire.
“When did this happen?”
“When are you going?”
“Is he picking you up?”
“What are you wearing?”
“When was the last time you shaved your legs?”
I stop dead at that last one. “Wait, what do you meanshave my legs?”
Marianna grins, too pleased with herself. “Well, you see, Cat, when two people love each other—”
“Shut up. I’m already nervous enough!”
Briana, ever the voice of reason, raises her hands. “Okay, okay, let’s reset. Start from the beginning. What did he say?”
I take a deep breath. “He asked what I was doing. I said I was about to shower and eat dinner. He said same. Then he asked if I wanted to come have dinner with him, we could order takeout.”
Marianna gasps dramatically. “Do we think ‘takeout’ is code for something?”
Briana smirks. “Maybeshe’sthe takeout.”
“Hello!” I yell, waving my hands. “Nervous, panicking person over here! Can we focus?”
Marianna tries to suppress a laugh. “Fine, fine. When is he coming over?”
“He’s not.”
They freeze. “What do you mean he’s not?”
“I meanI’mgoing over there.”
Their expressions of disbelief are almost identical.
“I knew he lived on Ocean Ave, so I figured I’d just drive, right? But then he sent me his location and”—I grab my phone from thebed and shove it toward them—“look. He’s literally right around the corner.”
Marianna whistles low. “Oh, wow. That fancy building? He probably has the entire top floor.”
They’re peering into my phone, zooming in on the map like amateur detectives, when Briana squints.
“Wait. Did he just… send you two hundred dollars?”
Marianna grins like a cat who got the cream. “That’s a cheap service, sis.”
“It’s fordinner!” I protest.
“And he told you to keep the rest for your coffee addiction?” Briana adds, reading over my shoulder. “Oh my God, that’s—”
“Adorable,” Marianna finishes for her. “Absolutely disgustingly adorable.”
They “Awww” in unison, and I groan.
