"I promise they're good,” Ellie says. “Incredible even. I think he's surpassed my cookies.”
"That's impossible." Addie grabs one and takes a bite out of it. "Holy shit. She wasn't joking."
Addie examines it and eats the rest.
Rowan crosses his arms, seeming awfully pleased with himself.
"Thank you, honey," Ellie says and takes a cookie.
He bends down to kiss her head. “Alright, I'm off to the brewery. Let me know if you guys need anything.”
Biscuit is sleeping in my arms, and I pet his fluffy, golden fur. Addie grabs a bottle of red wine, the corkscrew squeaking, and then a satisfyingpop.She pours a glass for herself, then offers me some. I shake my head.
I need to be stone-cold sober for this conversation.
"So, what's going on?" Addie asks, putting down the bottle.
Hailey picks it up after her, picking up her glass, and filling it to the brim. I eye it, making sure it won't overflow because it's happened before and has ruined carpets.
"Riley?" Ellie says.
Before going into panic mode and texting all the girls to meet up, I didn’t quite think about what I would say to them. Or how I’m not trying to give my best friend nightmares about what me and her brother did.
My mouth goes dry.
"I have a small problem," I squeak out.
“And that problem being.” Hailey circles her hand lazily for me to go on.
“A guy.”
"I hear that." Hailey salutes with her glass.
"What guy? Who is he? Do we know him? How did you meet him?" Addie doesn't breathe until the last question.
"You don't know him." I swallow around the lump in my throat.
"What does he look like?" Addie asks after taking a drink of her wine.
I tap my chin before I place my hand back on Biscuit's furry belly. “Brunette, blue eyes, tall.”
“And we really don’t know him?” Ellie asks.
Twisting my lips to the side, I hesitate, just for the briefest moment. “Nope.”
"Boring," Hailey drawls.
I scoff. "Shut up."
"Okay, so what's the issue?" Ellie chimes in.
“The issue is my feelings for the guy are getting a little out of hand. I’ve liked him for a while now. I saw him earlier today and one thing led to another, and we started kissing and—” I glance at Ellie. “Other stuff happened.”
"What exactly is the problem?” Addie asks before finishing her drink and pouring more right after. “Sounds like you really enjoyed it, even if it was something as small as that.”
"The problem is that I don’t do relationships. You guys know this. They’re too complicated."
Everything I did for him today, everything I wanted to do for him, I made sure that it would help him in the long run. I'm sure his dad wouldn't mind making a few changes so August feels more confident in his ability to run the store.
