“Life isn’t like coding, it’s not an algorithm, and I’ve never known how to deal with that.”
His hand rises to smooth his messy hair, and his grandmother’s bracelet glides down his arm. “We all make mistakes. And I told you, I’m cool. This wasn’t a mistake for me. I understand if it was for you, but—”
“That’s the thing. It wasn’t. But it also—” She was going to say it wasn’t her choice, but that’s not really true. Mallory may have made the rules and Aubrey may have followed them, but the choice, the choice of Kai in the game, that was all hers. And it led her here. To this place she decided to stay in, not knowing what would happen. But she’s herself, with all her memories of the world she came from, with all the memories of the past week of being here. Nothing before it. It’s scary. It’s also okay. Especially since, deep down, somehow she is sure that in some other world, the Aubrey of here lives a different path, another version of this life they all share. “I wasn’t sure it was something I could trust.”
“And, what, you’re sure now?”
“It’s not that simple.” She takes her time. And that’s okay. In this place, with Kai, she trusts the way she feels and the way he makes her feel. Like she isn’t playing a supporting role in her own life. “I spent my life waiting for everyone else to take the lead. But now here, with this... I like you. I’d like to see if there’s something here.”
At that, Harley pops up and circles three times before settling himself on Kai’s foot.
Kai’s head tilts down. “Totally cheating. You do realize that?”
“I’m playing the odds.”
“Yeah, well, you warned me you were good with numbers.”
Kai begins to tug her into his apartment, where she really, really wants to go. She places her palm on his bare chest and nothing has felt so right since the day she forced herself out of that bathroom stall at the start-up program to have lunch with Mallory and Ilena. Which is why she taps his chest and then presses the leash into his hand.
“Let’s see how you do with numbers,” Aubrey says. “Walk him at nine, noon, and three. Feed him at four. Walk at five.”
“But I thought...” His brow furrows before he nods in understanding. “The direct listing. You must have a thousand things to do. Let me know if there’s anything I can help with.”
Ethan never said anything like that. And if he had, it’d have been with the assumption that she needed help, more a statement about what she lacked rather than what he wanted to give.
“Today’s going to require some David Copperfield–level magic to make everything happen, but after... dinner. Takeout. I don’t know what time but—”
“I’ll be here.”
“Me too.” She’s so glad she is.
“But, Aubrey, who’s David Copperfield?”
Young, so very young, but it’ll be fun to teach him things.
Once she’s back on the street, she calls Noreen, who answers instantly. “Big day!”
“Very. Because we made a decision.” Aubrey’s never used the royal “we” before. As she walks to the subway, she explains what she needs Noreen to do.
“I’ll see to it faster than small-town gossip,” Noreen says.
Aubrey pauses before hanging up. She knows how it feels to be an outsider. “Lunch soon? All of us?”
“Oh, that’s... nice, just real nice. Thank you, Ms. Miller.”
“Aubrey. It’s Aubrey, and I’m sorry not to ask sooner. We’ve been a bit too self-absorbed lately.”
“Aren’t we all?”
Aubrey lets herself into the condo, holding her breath. Mallory’s lying on the sofa. When Aubrey shuts the door, Mallory’s eyes flutter open.
“I’m still drunk.” She groans. “Am I still drunk?” She sits up, clutches her head, looks down at her jumpsuit. “Oh shit.”
Aubrey’s chest seizes. It didn’t work. This is still her Mallory, her Mallory who hates the color of—
“What is this?” Mallory licks her index finger and rubs the fabric. “Hot sauce? Did we even eat anything last night? Dammit, my favorite jumpsuit too.”
Mallory lifts her head, meets Aubrey’s eye. “Are you... Did you stay here last night?”
