I chewed my lip. “I’m not sure.”
“Of course, you alreadyarea designer. Ellie, she’s the one who made that strawberry dress I was telling you about.”
“That wasyou? I swear we studied that outfit for ages trying to figure out the pattern!”
“Really? I could send it to you.”
“Lucy, you can’t just be handing out your patterns for free!” Brooklyn said. “Besides, the most I’ve ever sewn was curtains for my house, and by the end of it, I was ready to throw the machine out the window.”
“If you ever ran a sewing class, I would take it in a heartbeat,” Ellie added.
“Yes! There’s this seamstress I love who has this whole online program with her patterns and tutorials and stuff. You would kill at that! You could do a whole separate class on pet clothing. I made my cat a bandana and I swear she looked at me likeThis is the best you can do?” She shook her hand. “I never should have shown Princess Whiskers your Instagram.”
Had I entered an alternate reality? My friends and family had been complimenting my sewing for years, but theyhadto say nice things. These were two strangers. “I really just do it for fun.”
“Well, if you ever want to set up an education site, my girlfriend could totally help. She’s a computer person,” Brooklyn said.
“A computer person? For the love of god. You live together and you still can’t remember her job title?”
She shrugged. “I mean, I moved in with her after three dates, so I’m not sure that’s saying much. When you know, you know.”
Ellie looked at me, shaking her head, but I grinned. It wasn’t like I could say anything. My guys were practically living in my nest already.
“Let’s exchange numbers so we can keep in touch,” Brooklyn said.
Ellie muttered that her friend was a stalker under her breath, but they both put their numbers into my phone.
“You’d be welcome to come to Midsummer, by the way,” I said. “Although my guys might not approve of your whole skin-suit plot.”
Brooklyn gasped. “Yourguys? I didn’t realize you were bonded.”
My cheeks heated at my slip. “Not yet. We’re still courting.”
“I don’t know who I’m more excited to meet—Felix or your pack.” She tapped her pencil against her lips. “Let’s be real, it’s Felix. Unless you’re also making costumes for your pack?”
“Oh, I’m definitely going to sew something for them.”
“I can’t wait to see.”
60
Lucy
I headed back to thelobby once the interview had wrapped up. My chest was a swirl of tangled emotions, but there was a blanket of happiness over it all. Deep down, I’d expected to be told I had no business being here, but everyone I’d met had made me feel the opposite. I couldn’t wait to tell my guys all about it, but they weren’t on the couch where I’d left them. I scanned the lobby but still nothing, and the high-powered air-filtration system made it so I couldn’t catch their scents, either.
My heart pounded and my skin felt tight and itchy as I circled the room and peered into the cafe. They wouldn’t just leave me, right? I pulled out my phone, but there were no missed calls. They’d probably gone to the bathroom or something…
I waited a few more minutes, but when they still didn’t show, I dialed King—the one out of all of us most likely to have his phone on. I jolted as a burst of static came through the speaker.
“Hello? King?”
There was no response except for the honking of a horn, muffled shouts, and more static. My heart raced and anxious sweat dripped down my back.
“Lucy? Can you hear me?”
I drew in a ragged breath at King’s voice. “Barely. Where are you?”
“Shit, sorry, baby. I—interview—hospital.”
