She sniffled and tried to calm down. “I don’t know whether I’m alive or dead, in heaven or hell or if any of this is even real. I just know that I love you, Lucian.”
The alarms went off.
Poof.
“HEY, PINKY, WAKEup!”
I opened my eyes to find Brooklyn hovering over me. “What are you doing here, and how’d you get into my loft?”
She smiled. “I stole your key the other day and made a copy for myself.” She tried to lean down and kiss me.
“Ew, get off me.” I glanced at the clock. It was six thirty on a Saturday. “I’m going to kill you. Seriously, why are you here? I was up all night sketching. I wanted to sleep in.”
“Well, first of all, don’t you miss me?”
I rolled my eyes. “And second of all?”
“Second of all, you should be out on dates on a Friday night, not held up in your loft, drawing.”
“This coming from a woman who wouldn’t go out with the same person twice. Now you’re married and the expert?” She was right though. I should have been out dating.
“You know I’m right.” She looked around the room. “Your loft looks amazing. I can’t believe you did all of this yourself.”
“Well, I don’t date, remember? I have plenty of time on my hands.”
“We can fix that.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“Please don’t set me up. You know I hate being set up.” I got up to head to the kitchen to make coffee. Brooklyn followed close behind. “You want some coffee?”
“I already had my daily allowance.”
Turning around in the kitchen area, I glared at her. “What are you talking about?”
She grinned from ear to ear and batted her eyelashes. I looked down at her stomach. “Are you serious? Are you pregnant?”
When she nodded, I grabbed her and squeezed her. I felt her start to cry.
“You’re gonna be an auntie,” she said.
“I can’t wait.” I was getting emotional too. As happy as I was, I felt an emptiness inside of me that I couldn’t explain—a void. I was envious of Brooklyn for the first time in a long time.
She pulled out of the hug and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “It’s still early, but I wanted to tell you first—after Keith, of course. I haven’t even told my parents.”
“Brooke, I’m honored. I want to be there for you every step of the way. I know I’ve been so busy lately and I haven’t been the greatest friend. I was just swept up with the loft and my new line. I feel like I’ve been living in a social fog the last few months.”
“It’s okay, pinky. By the way, how is the line coming along?”
Brooke never used to care, so I stared at her before I answered. “You’re never going to believe this. Divine Denim is being featured in next month’sVogue.” I started jumping up and down. “It comes out in two weeks. Ah!”
Brooke started jumping too.
“Don’t jump… the baby.”
“Oh yeah.” She laughed. “Ah, Evey, I’m so proud of you.”
We hugged again. I didn’t ask for my key back, and I promised myself I’d be more open to dating. My career was taking off, I had a place of my own… it was time.
IS THAT BEEPING?What is that beeping?I felt a nudge, and then a full-out kick in the back of my leg.
