Willa and Precious.
At my table. Side by side.
Eating what looked like an industrial-sized apple pie.
Willa didn’t miss a beat.
“Look who’s here. And look what she brought you.”
Precious froze, fork halfway to her mouth. Her eyes shot up to me, then flicked to Willa, then back down to the plate like it might swallow her whole.
“Hey,” she said, way too chirpy. “I, um… baked. Thought I’d drop by.”
Sure.
More like: drop in, drop clothes, drop standards.
She clearly hadn’t expected an audience. Definitely not one in the form of a smug blonde in my hoodie.
Willa took another bite of pie like she was on stage.
“It’s still warm, by the way. In case you were wondering.”
I just stood there. Boxers. Hair everywhere. No coffee. No defenses. Whatever this was, I wasn’t ready for it.
I poured the coffee grounds into the machine, trying to look like a man in control of his morning.
Spoiler: I wasn’t.
All I wanted was caffeine. And maybe five minutes without women eating pastry in my kitchen.
How the hell had I ended up with exactly two more women in this house than I’d planned for last night before heading to Rick’s?
I filled the water. Hit the button. Watched the miracle brown liquid start to drip like salvation.
“Guess y’all already did the whole name exchange thing.”
I didn’t even try to make it sound convincing. More like a question I wasn’t ready for the answer to.
Precious smiled tight, still standing by the pie.
“Yeah, Willa’s… shared a few things. I mean—I thought you weren’t doing engagements anymore. After Hope…”
Willa blinked. Then it hit her.
“The doctor?”
Half laugh, half accusation.
Cut clean.
Precious turned.
“You’ve already met?”
Willa took a sip of coffee and nodded.
“Seems like I’ve met most of his female acquaintances in the last twenty-four hours.”
