Page 131 of Vegas with my Ex’s Best Friends

“Confidence. Availability. A little chaos.”

“That's three tones.”

“I contain multitudes.” He slides his arms around me from behind and rests his chin on my shoulder. “He's coming,” he says, quieter. “That's already the win.”

Ethan passes through the kitchen and straightens something on the counter that was already straight.

“Ethan,” Andrew says from the living room.

“What.”

“You've moved the salt twice.”

“I'm adjusting the—”

Liam leans over and moves it back. “It's salt.”

“The placement matters for—”

“Ethan.” I turn and look at him. He's in his good shirt. He's been in his good shirt since four-thirty. “Thank you for making dinner,” I say. “It looks excellent. Leave the salt.”

He eyes it. “It's in the wrong—”

“Leave it.”

He leaves it.

The doorbell rings at seven exactly. Connor is always on time.

Sarah smiles first. She's holding sparkling cider—not wine, a nice gesture—and she hands it over with warmth that makes me want to hug her immediately. I do.

“Your house is beautiful,” she says, stepping inside.

“It's got tape on the trim.”

“Character,” she says. “Very intentional.” Her eyes move around the living room and whatever she sees there softens her expression. She's already putting something together.

Connor is behind her. He looks like he stayed up too late preparing for something he's not sure how to do. He clears his throat. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I say.

We hug. Brief. Slightly stiff. Completely us.

Liam materializes from the kitchen far too prepared for this moment. “Connor. Sarah. Come in—” He gestures at the living room. “This is the house. We live here now. Everything is fine and normal.”

Andrew appears behind him. “We're not saying normal.”

“I'm setting a tone.”

“You can't open with a tone.”

“That's literally what a tone is.”

Connor watches the exchange like a man recalibrating. He's worked with Liam for three years. He knows exactly what Liam looks like leading with charm—he's watched him do it in boardrooms, at deal dinners, across the table from investors who needed warming up. He's used it. This version of it is new to him.

I see Sarah glance at Connor. The small shift in her expression. She's already ahead of him.

“Come sit down,” I say. “Ethan made enough food to last us into spring.”