Jo dropped her phone face-down on the desk and pinched the bridge of her nose. Why was she obsessing about a woman in a room at a club when she could be spending time with Amelia? She knew exactly why. Because if she wasn’t obsessing over Lia, she would be obsessing over Amelia. And that just wasn’t an option. Amelia had already made it clear yesterday over coffee that whateverthiswas between them, it couldn’t happen. Jo was Callum’s ex-girlfriend. Amelia was his mother. And no matter how electrifying the flirting between them felt… Amelia wasn’t ready to risk anything more.
Jo lifted her phone again and swallowed.
I’m sorry.
Sorry for choosing Lia over Amelia. Sorry for finding Amelia so irresistible in the first place. Sorry for letting herself fall into this tangled mess of forbidden attraction.
Amelia’s reply came moments later.
Me too.
Jo stared at her phone until her vision blurred and the screen dimmed. She tapped it to bring it back to life, as if the words may have changed or offered some kind of direction. But they hadn’t. They were just two small words filled with everything and nothing. A quiet agreement that hurt more than it soothed.
She set the phone down again and reached for her sandwich. She wasn’t hungry anymore. She hadn’t been since yesterday, if she was being honest. Not since the moment Amelia had sat beside her, those warm brown eyes flickering with something that looked so much like regret.
Jo dragged a hand through her hair, frustrated at herself for letting this spiral. She’d known that Amelia was off-limits. From the moment she’d caught herself watching her at family gatherings, admiring the graceful way she moved, or how her voice dipped into something soft and low when she was being kind. Back then, Jo had chalked it up to admiration. Appreciation. But it hadn’t been that. Not even close.
She turned back to her screen, pretending to focus on work, but all she could see was Amelia. Laughing with a glass of wine in her hand or helping Jo to fix a crooked frame on her wall in the days of her moving into her new place, or sitting beside her at the edge of the couch with her fingers far too close to Jo’s own.
She wanted her. She wantedmore.
And that was the problem.
Part of her wished it was possible. She wished she could rewind the clock and be someone Amelia could be with without guilt and without family history shadowing everything. If Callum wasn’t her ex. If Amelia wasn’t his mother. If they’d met in another lifetime, then yes…she would have wished for a different outcome.
Jo exhaled slowly, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes. It was madness. All of it. She had somehow found herself tangled up in a faceless woman in the dark, chasing something electric and anonymous, while trying to fight her feelings for Amelia, too.
God, it was a mess.
And it was a mess Jo wasn’t sure she could handle.
The wine was alreadyopen by the time Ada had arrived, her lipstick slightly smudged and a mischievous grin tugging at thecorners of her mouth. She’d stepped inside, kicking off her boots and throwing her bag to the stairs, then dropped down onto Jo’s couch with a dramatic sigh.
Jo, curled up at the other end of the couch in her oversized hoodie and leggings, handed her a glass without a word.
“God, I needed this.” Ada groaned and took a sip. “Busy week. What’s your excuse?”
Jo tried to smile, but she just couldn’t do it. If she couldn’t be honest with her best friend or try to figure everything out in her head, then she had no hope of ending the ridiculous thoughts running through her mind. She tucked her legs under herself and glanced down at her wine. “Emotional whiplash.”
Ada leaned back and grinned. “Ah. Lia?”
“No. Not Lia.” Jo shook her head. “God, it would be so simple if itwasLia.”
Ada frowned. “Amelia?”
Jo blew out a breath. She had no idea what direction this conversation was about to head in, but shehadto tell Ada. She needed someone to talk through it all with her. “Yeah. Amelia.” Jo didn’t dare look up. She couldn’t. God only knew the look on Ada’s face right now.
“O-oh.”
“Yeah. Oh. That was the reaction I expected…I think.”
“Okay. So…are we talking ‘Amelia is really supportive and gorgeous, and I have a harmless crush’ kind of thing, or…?”
“We’re talking…” Jo set her glass down and ran a hand through her hair. “I can’t stop thinking about her. And I don’t think it’s harmless anymore.”
“Wow.” Ada blinked, her wine glass paused halfway to her lips. “And we’re still talking about the Amelia I think we’re talking about? As inCallum’s mumAmelia?”
“Yep. Still the same Amelia.” God, every time Jo said her name or allowed herself a moment to think about Amelia, her heart ached. “It’s a mess, right?”
