Download dating app.
I want to fall in love again.
I stare at the last one. My instinct is to erase the line through it... but I don’t.
Not yet.
Chapter 30
“Where have you guys been?” Zoey asks.
Miles and I have just gotten back to The Bexley, and the courtyard is buzzing. All of my people (except Minnie) are here, and when they see us, they all stop what they’re doing.
Lennon’s eyes are wide, hopeful, and she looks a little smug. Definitely reading into the fact that I spent the whole afternoon with Miles. Maybe also reading into the fact that he was the one who got me off the bathroom floor.
“We, uh—” I glance over at Miles.
“We had a few things to take care of,” he says.
“Okay, well, we got hungry, so we’re grilling out,” Ava says. “Everyone brought something, and it’s almost ready.”
I look around at this hodgepodge of people. One of our quieter neighbors, a young investment banker named Tim, is here, along with the crew from the farmers’ market.
Lorraine bustles out of her house carrying a platter of meat, and Daniel is at the grill, ready, complete with a black apron with white letters reading:THIS IS A MANLY APRON FOR A MANLY MAN, DOING MANLY THINGS, WHILE COOKING MANLY FOOD.
There’s a picnic table covered with trays and bowls of food, and standing next to it is Duffy.
Duffy? What is he doing here?
He lifts a hand in a polite wave, eyes drifting over to Miles, and I’m sure he’s drawing a conclusion about what he’s seeing. There’s a gnawing in my belly that tells me I need to make this right.
When Miles sees him standing there, he walks off toward the grill, pats a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, and picks up a spatula.
“We came up with a brilliant idea,” Zoey says before I can move. “We’ve all been brainstorming since we left the market.”
“You have?”
“Heck yes,” Ava says. “We’re invested now.”
Lennon hands me a glass of lemonade. “You have a lot of people in your corner.” She squeezes my arm. “And we all want to help.”
The words zip straight to my heart.
These are my people.
The gravity of that hits me—hard. Because nobody has ever shown up for me like this. Not even the people who should’ve. Not in a million years.
“We’ll talk about it after we eat,” Ava says with a smile. “But we think you’re going to love it.”
“Wehopeyou’re going to love it,” Zoey adds.
“She will,” Lorraine says. “It’s a brilliant plan.”
I’m curious what they’re going to propose, but I’m also hungry and exhausted, so I let it go for now and make my way over to Duffy, anxious to do the right thing where he’s concerned.
He’s a good person, and if today has taught me anything, it’s that Lennon was right—holding on to him while I try to sort out my feelings for someone else really isn’t fair.
And as much as I wish I didn’t have feelings to sort, I do. That may mean I have to put some distance between me and Miles—orclosethe distance, which terrifies me—but regardless, there’s no room for Duffy in my romantic life.
