“Be found?”
“Yeah. He just shows up, and suddenly you’re hooked.”
“Should I just leave?” Fletcher points his thumb over his shoulder toward the door. “Seems like you guys are really hitting it off here, so I don’t want to interrupt or anything.”
“Actually, we are.” Becca smiles. “I don’t know why you didn’t introduce us sooner. Worried we might like hanging out with each other more than we like hanging out with you?”
“A little bit, yeah.” Fletcher rubs the back of his neck.
“Do you want to join us?” I point to a table in the far corner, where there are some comfortable chairs.
“I’d love that.”
Becca and I head over to the corner table as Fletcher orders our coffees.
“I was happy to hear you guys finally ripped the band-aid off.” Becca sits, dropping her bag to the side of her chair. “I knew the first night we met that Fletcher was head over heels for you. I was starting to worry it wouldn’t work out.”
“Yeah, we’ve been running around the idea for ages.” I pick at the fraying pieces in the holes of my jeans. “Honestly, there was only one other direction our relationship was heading, so I’m happy it went the other way.”
“I don’t think your friendship would’ve ended.” She shakes her head. “From what Fletcher’s told me, your foundation is too strong. I think no matter what happens, he’ll always be your person, even if it’s not in a romantic way.”
“Do you know something I don’t?” I lift an eyebrow, and she reaches a hand out, gently touching my arm.
“No, oh my goodness, ha-ha, I just mean, you guys, I don’t know. You’re connected in a way I’ve never seen before. You’re really good together.”
“Thank you. And I just want you to know, I think you’ve been really good for him.” I curl my bottom lip into my mouth. “I don’t think we’d be together right now if he had never met you, so I guess Marcus grabbing him to be a wingman really worked out in our favor.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You ladies having fun?” Fletcher hands me my coffee and then Becca hers before sitting down next to me.
“Oh yeah. Tate is just telling me about all the embarrassing stories from your childhood.” Becca takes a sip of her drink.
“There aren’t any.” Fletcher leans back in the chair.
“What about your emo phase in eighth grade?”
“Okay, that never happened.” He puts his coffee on the table in front of us and turns toward me.
“Just because it only lasted six weeks doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
“You had an emo phase?” Becca howls. “Oh, my goodness, I need to see pictures.”
“There aren’t an—”
“I think I still have pictures on my cloud.” I lift up my hand to stop Fletcher from talking. “And I promise you, whatever you’re imagining, the reality is so much better.”
Fletcher slouches in his seat, “And now I realize why I’ve avoided introducing you to each other.”
Becca and I flip him the bird, and then she scoots her chair closer as we search for the embarrassing photos together.
forty-three
Tate
Ididn’t think dinners at the Reeds could be any more chaotic, but now, with the new addition, things are even crazier.
It’s a constant argument about who’s going to hold Theo and when. Fletcher typically uses the Godfather trump card whenever he wants another turn, holding his nephew. It’s honestly comical how easily everyone gives in to it.
