I typed out a quick text on my own phone, and by the time Teagan’s phone quacked to signal that he’d received it, I already had my keys in my hand.
I let the door slam shut behind me.
CHAPTER THREE
TEAGAN
“Sounds great, Patsy! Talk soon.”
I slammed my laptop shut, stared at the wall, and grinned dopily. I liked to think I’d always been a fairly optimistic person, but if someone had told me a year ago just how much my life would change for the better in such a short time, I would’ve told them to fuck off with their manifestation bullshit because I didn’t believe in that stuff. Then this guy—the world’s sweetest, strongest, most gorgeous man—had offered to move a random stranger’s sofa… and here I was.
I sat there for ten whole seconds, letting my giddy excitement wash over me.
Then I did what I always did when I got good news.
“John! Johnny, come here! You are not going tobelieeeeve—”I broke off as the apartment door slammed shut.
What the heck? I’d asked him to wait.
“John?” I demanded. I walked down the hall to the empty living room, where my phone was quacking forlornly. I swiped it off the couch before heading to the apartment door.
“John?” I called into the echoing hallway. “If you forgot the mail, just leave it. I need to?—”
Belatedly, I looked down at my phone.
JOHNNY
Hey. Congrats on your big news. I’m not feeling like great company tonight, so we’ll celebrate soon, okay? Have a great evening with John.
What in the fucking fucksticks?
A great evening withJohn?
Also, since when did either of us care about whether we were great company or not? John had gotten me Boston Cream Pie ice cream and deleted the Grindr app in solidarity with me back in June after a particularly horrible date. I’d made him chicken soup and brought him cold compresses when he was sick back in April, because he’d been so miserably feverish that nothing in the apartment had felt like the right temperature.
We were not “company” friends.
Also-also, he was acting like he knew what my big news was when he couldn’t possibly, becauseIhadn’t officially known about it until five minutes ago, and I hadn’t told anyone the details ahead of time, because I’d wanted John to be the first to know.
“John?” I yelled, louder now, leaning over the railing so I could see down to the lobby. “What the heck is?—”
But I heard the distant sound of the outside door clicking as John left the building.
“Teagan? What’s going on, boo?”
Our across-the-hall neighbor, Monica, stood in her doorway wearing pajamas and carrying something that looked suspiciously like a margarita in her hand.
“It’s John. He’s acting bizarre all of a sudden. I wanted to talk to him?—”
“About your big news, right.” Monica nodded. She winced sympathetically. “He didn’t take it well when you told him? Did he… did he cry?”
“What? Why would he cry?” I shook my head. “I didn’teven get to talk to him. I was on a Zoom, and when I finished, he was gone. Then he sends me this.” I gestured with my cell phone, and Monica stepped into the hall to read it over my shoulder.
“Is that Teagan?” a voice called from inside Monica’s apartment. My friend Fern appeared a second later, also in pajamas and holding a drink.
“Fern?” I blinked. “What are you doing here?”
“A little something I’m calling Margaritas and Mischief—” Monica began.
