I raised an eyebrow. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Evan, does it?”
Her grin widened, and she took a long sip of coffee. “No comment.”
“Meredith!” I groaned. “Did you two?—?”
“We just talked. It was fun.”
“Oh, my God. I don’t believe you. You just talked?”
“Maybe there was some cuddling,” she shrugged.
“Wow,” I said. “You must like him. You don’t cuddle.”
“It’s nothing serious. But…” she gave me a wink, “It was a good spoon session.”
She grabbed her Chargers jersey and said, “Now, hurry up, we have a game to catch.”
The pretzel and soda that Meredith plied me with at the stadium – “Carbs and caffeine are my cure all” – did make mefeel a bit more human. On our way to the game I’d longed for my couch. Although I was exhausted the energy of the crowd was contagious and I was so glad we’d taken Lauren up on the tickets.
The following day,we gave into the laziness we felt and treated ourselves to a day at The Montage. The ocean view was breathtaking, and the spa treatment Meredith insisted on booking felt like the peace and serenity I needed.
“You know,” Meredith said, stretching out on the lounge chair, “I can see why Evan’s such a hit. He’s funny, charming, and way too cute for his own good. Kind of annoying, actually.”
She never talked about guys since she dated Marcus, a colleague of Jason’s. She swore off men forever after him.
“I thought he was just for fun,” I said, laughing.
“He is...”
I bit back a grin.
Meredith adjusted her sunglasses and let out a contented sigh. “This place is heavenly,” she said, taking a slow sip of her iced tea.
“It is,” I agreed, though my thoughts drifted far from the view.
She caught my expression and raised an eyebrow. “Okay, spill. You’ve been zoning out since we got here.”
I hesitated, swirling the straw in my drink. “I’ve been thinking about Thanksgiving.”
“What about it?”
"Lucas's invitation,” I said carefully. “I don’t know if we should go.”
Meredith sat up, sliding her sunglasses onto her head. “Why not? You said it’d be a good networking opportunity.”
“It is,” I admitted, “but it feels… wrong. Will and I are finally in a good place, and this feels like I’m throwing a wrench into everything.”
“Nat, you’re overthinking,” Meredith said, leaning back again. “Will isn’t going to hold it against you. And if he does, that’s on him.”
“I just don’t want to ruin things,” I murmured.
Meredith reached over to squeeze my hand. “You’re not ruining anything. Besides, it’s not like you’re going to Lucas’s to profess your undying love. You’re going for work, and for me, because I want to eat whatever amazing food that chef Jasper is making.”
I smiled reluctantly. “You’ve got a point.”
Meredith grinned. “Of course I do. And who knows? Maybe this chef will be cute enough to distract me for the evening.”
“He is very cute and has an accent,” I said.
