“So, like... a demotion?”
“They’re calling it ‘reduced capacity until things settle down.’” I shrug. “Same pay, same hours. Just less visible. Less important.”
“Tori.” Winnie reaches over and squeezes my hand. “That sucks. I’m sorry.”
“It could have been worse. Zayden went to Dana before I could—like, showed up at her office at the crack of dawn to take responsibility. He told her about Reed harassing me, defendedme, and offered to take whatever consequences they wanted to throw at him.” I smile despite myself. “He went to bat for me. No one’s ever done that before.”
“Okay, that’s annoyingly romantic.”
“I know.” I roll my eyes.
“So you two are...?”
“Officially? Keeping things ‘discreet.’” I make air quotes. “But we’re going on a date tomorrow night. A real one. Reservations and everything.”
“Your first real date?”
“We’ve done everything completely backwards. I’ve met his daughter, almost slept with him in a hotel, and nearly lost my job over him—but we’ve never actually been on a date.”
Winnie laughs. “That’s the most chaotic relationship timeline I’ve ever heard. I love it.”
“It’s been a lot.” I lean back against the couch cushions. “But it’s good. He’s good. Even with all the mess, I don’t regret it.”
“You shouldn’t.” She clinks her glass against mine. “To messy, chaotic love. And to both of us figuring our shit out.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
We polish off the rest of the bottle, and later, I help her set up the couch with sheets and pillows. It’s not glamorous—my couch is about six inches too short for a full-grown adult to sleep comfortably—but Winnie doesn’t complain. She just wraps herself in the blanket and sighs.
“Thank you,” she says quietly. “For all of this. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Probably sleep on Megan’s couch and get peed on by a cat.”
“Probably.” She smiles. “Goodnight, Tori.”
“Goodnight, Win.”
I turn off the lights and head to my bed—which is really just a slightly elevated section of the same room, separated by a bookshelf that serves as a makeshift wall. The joys of studio apartment living.
But as I lie there in the dark, listening to Winnie’s breathing even out, I’m not thinking about the cramped quarters or the chaos of the last few days.
I’m thinking about tomorrow night.
My date with Zayden, him taking me somewhere with candles and wine and food that doesn’t come with a number.
I’ve never been the girl who gets giddy about dates. After all the horrible first dates I’ve been on, I’ve trained myself not to. Expectations lead to disappointment, and disappointment leads to heartbreak, and I’d had enough of that to last a lifetime.
But this feels different. Zayden feels different.
I fall asleep smiling, and for the first time in a long time, I don’t dream about everything that could go wrong.
I dream about everything that could go right.
29
FINALLY
Zayden
