The question hit me hard. What did I want?
I wanted to stop being so exhausted by my own brain. I wanted to believe that I could have something good without it falling apart. I wanted to stop letting my past dictate my future.
I wanted Cam.
But that… that was all too much. So instead, “I just want to kiss him again,” I admitted.
Poppy beamed. “Then tell him that.”
“What?”
“Tell him exactly what you just told us.”
“That sounds insane.”
“No,” Samara said. “That sounds honest.”
“But what if?—”
“No what ifs.” Hannah pointed at me. “What ifs are how we talk ourselves out of good things. You want to kiss him. He clearly wants to kiss you. Everything else is just noise.”
I looked around the table at my friends. At Mia, who’d known me forever. At Hannah with her bold confidence. At Maya’s steady practicality. At Poppy’s soft warmth and Annie’s gentle wisdom. At Samara’s enthusiasm and Cassidy’s clear-eyed logic.
My heart was beating a frantic rhythm against my ribs, a bird trapped in a cage. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to run, to hide, to keep myself safe and covered up.
But I was so fucking tired of running.
Letting out a breath that stuttered in my chest, I looked at Mia. She gave me a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
Trust us,that nod said.
“Okay,” The word scraped my throat. “Okay. I’ll tell him.”
“Yes!” Hannah pumped her fist. “Finally!”
“When?” Poppy asked, leaning forward.
“I don’t know. Soon. Maybe tomorrow when I go over to watch the girls.”
“No.” Cassidy shook her head. “Today. Text him today. Don’t give yourself time to talk yourself out of it.”
My phone sat on the table between us, screen dark and silent. My stomach twisted at the thought of picking it up.
“I’ll do it when I get home.”
“Em.” Mia’s voice was patient but firm. “Do it now.”
“While we’re all here,” Maya added. “So we can stop you from overthinking it.”
Fuck, they were so right it killed me.
“I hate you all.” But I was reaching for my phone, my hands shaking slightly as I unlocked it.
“You love us,” Hannah corrected. “Now text the hot dad and tell him you want to make out with him.”
“I’m not saying it like that.”
“Why not? It’s accurate.”
