"But you don't even bother to tell your very bestest friendanything?"she demands, sounding genuinely hurt.
"Alaina," I say, hugging her one-armed."I needed to keep it to myself—weneeded to keep it private for a bit, okay?I've only talked to Mal about it, and I’m not sure if Noah has even told Noel, although I’d be surprised if he didn't."
"But thereissomething to tell?"
"Yes, there is.We're…together."I cover her mouth before she can squeal again."Surely you can understand why we'd want to keep it private for a while before we went public with it."
"Well,yeah,obviously,” Alaina says."But I'm not the public.I held your hair when you were puking from morning sickness with Mallory.I was there with the wine after you served your cheating sleazebag of an ex the divorce papers.I've been there for every major life event since you were twenty-five years old, Morgan."
I sigh again."I'm sorry, Alaina.I…I had a hard time letting anything happen.It's still an effort to not panic at how good things feel, you know?"
"It's good, though?"
I widen my eyes."Sogood, Al.You don't even know."
She covers her mouth and nose with her hands, squealing and stomping her feet like a teenager—she was always the squealer of our friend group, with a loud, boisterous laugh and a contagious exuberance for just about everything."Morgan, c'mon.I needsomething."
"Let's just say that I feel more like the Morgan Wheeler I used to be than ever, in a very,verygood way."
She gives me a not-entirely-playful shake."DETAILS, woman!"
"Alaina…" I look around, dropping my voice to a whisper so she has to huddle up against me."He's made me feel things I didn't know were possible."
"Because you've been an incel the last eighteen years, babe."
"ALAINA!"I snap."Rude."
"But accurate."She arches an eyebrow at me."Your cave of wonders had cobwebs."
I tilt my head to one side, conceding the point."You're not wrong."I bite my lower lip."No cobwebs anymore, though."
"Got your pipes cleaned, did you?"
"Alaina, gross!"
She just laughs."I've picked up some fun phrases from Luke.The boy doesn't know how loud he gets when he's gaming with his buddies."
"You can keep those to yourself, thanks," I say.
She cackles again while leaning against me, the laughter subsiding with a long sigh."I'm happy for you, babes.Really and truly.Noah is one of the best guys I know, and you deserve it."She tilts her head to one side."So does he, honestly."
"Thanks, Al."
"How does Mallory feel about it?"
"Oh, she's all in.She loves Noah, if only because he encourages her hockey obsession."
"Oh, dear."Alaina is privy to the ongoing conflict on that topic.
"I think I'm softening, actually," I tell her."I'm considering letting her play."
Alaina doesn't answer immediately."I've kept my opinion to myself all these years, because I've always understood where you were coming from."
"But?"
“But in my experience, the harder you try to keep your kid from something they really want, the more it backfires.I tried everything I could think of to get Luke to go to college or get a real job instead of this influencer business."She shrugs."Turns out, he's making decent money doing something he truly enjoys.Why anyone would want to watch him play video games, I'll never understand, but it's hard to argue when he has hundreds of thousands of followers and several pretty big-name sponsors."
I glance at her."Wait, really?I know Mal watches his stream sometimes, but I didn't realize he was making money from it."
