Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
“I don’t know,” I say, scrubbing the back of my neck with my hand. “We need to do something. Can’t you think of anything?”
He grabs my shoulders. “The thing we have to do is support her. That’s what she needs.”
“How? How can we do that?”
“It’s LA. It’s not that far. We can do this,” he says, patting my shoulders, trying to reassure me.
How the hell he can be the calm one, I don’t know. But I’m glad he is because I’m a wreck. “How?” I ask again.
He lets go, breathes out hard, then paces for a minute. Then he stops, turns, and says, “I’ve got an idea.”
He does.
And it’s brilliant.
The next day, Ivy asks us to meet her at The Great Dane before work. I reserve a table, and Hayes and I bring the gift we have ready to show her we support her.
She gets to the restaurant ahead of us, and when the hostess shows us to the table, it looks like Ivy has had the same idea.
54
ALL THE WAYS
Ivy
Aubrey curls a chunk of my hair into a loose wave.
“Beach waves,” she says with pride. “You look so good like this.”
“Thank you,” I say, more calm than I’d expected to feel, given what I’ve planned for tonight.
“There’s nothing quite like getting a blowout before you pour your heart out,” she says.
“Good hair really sets the stage for everything, doesn’t it?”
“I’ve been saying that for ages. Finally, someone’s listening.”
I look into the salon mirror. I feel ready. Certain. And most of all, changed.
Nearly three months ago, when I grabbed Jackson’s binoculars and checked out a naked man on the roof of my building, I had no idea that it would upend my life. I had no idea that it would lead to me marching into a job I’d thought I loved and flipping all the tables. That it would send me into the arms of not one amazing man, but two.
But life is surprising. When Aubrey’s done, I stand and then give her a hug. She lets go first and shoos me to the door. “Go. Report back tomorrow.”
“Promise.” I leave Aubrey’s salon, fueled by confidence and great hair. When we returned from Los Angeles the other night, the guys told me not to make a decision about the job right away. To take my time.
I told them I would.
But really, I knew. I didn’t need to run to my grandmother when I landed. I didn’t need to wring my hands and ask her plaintively what to do. I didn’t need to wander along the water or walk across the city or play emo music until the answer came to me in a bolt of lightning from the heavens.
The answer’s been inside of me since the night the guys and I went to Kana’s and Brady’s house and declared ourselves together. I knew then, somewhere inside me, what I wanted. It just took a few more weeks for that voice to grow louder, to turn into a Greek chorus in my heart, to become its own anthem, guiding me to a wide-open door.
That door leads to The Great Dane tonight. I suppose it’s fitting. Stefan wasn’t here the night I spotted Hayes, but I learned later that he’d swung by a few hours after. He told me that he’d come here, stared off in the distance, and plotted a course to reach me. So, it seems fitting that we’d meet here now.
I arrive early. Mid-December is not rooftop weather. The warm fall has burned off, and the chilly temperatures have rolled in. I’m wearing jeans and a sweater that slopes down one arm, my waves curling over my shoulders.
Right on time, two handsome hockey studs walk toward me from across the restaurant. I spot the vulnerability in their eyes, but the confidence too. I also notice the planner under Stefan’s arm and give it a funny look.
When they reach me, Stefan dips his face and brushes a kiss onto my cheek. It’s a kiss that says you’re mine. Hayes does the same, his lips saying this was meant to be.
They sit across from me at our table for three.
Yes, this is what I want. I know. But I am curious what they have. “Is that a planner in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”
“Both.” Stefan slides it across the table.
Normally, he sets the agenda, but Hayes jumps in. “We made you something. Open it to today.”
With excited fingers, I open the book to December, finding the date. They filled in dinner at The Great Dane. Then tomorrow’s home game. A few days from now, there’s a night in at Stefan’s house. Then Christmas together. But January gets more interesting. They’ve filled in their hockey schedule, where they’ll be, and when they can get away to see me in…Los Angeles.