Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Now is not yet the time to say let’s be so much more, so instead I take the lead, saying, “Glad you could make it, and find something suitable to wear.”
“Were you impressed with my secret superfan costume?” Briar asks as we turn onto her block.
“Yes, but it does raise the question of how far does the superfan costume go?” My hungry gaze drifts down her body. Fine, we’re not trying to get her in bed…yet. But no one said I couldn’t flirt with her. Loopholes and all.
Briar lifts a shoulder coyly as we head back to her building, Donut waggling her long, little body as she trots up the steps. “Hmm. Golden State Foxes panties. I have to be honest. I don’t have a pair of those. But that’d be cute.”
“That’d be hot,” Gavin says.
“That’d be perfect,” Hollis agrees.
“Well yeah,” I rasp out.
This will be hard. But Gavin is right. We need to romance the hell out of her for real. Part of the way to her heart is through her pets. “Can we say hi to Frances Furbottom?” I ask.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Briar says, then leads us into the building and to the elevator.
With the four of us in this small lift, it’s tempting to take turns pinning her up against the wall and kissing the breath out of her. But I resist, and so do my friends. “Do you want to come to our next game? You’re kind of a good luck charm,” I say.
“You’re really making it hard for me to keep up the narrative at work that I’m a Sea Dogs fan,” she says.
“Imagine that,” Gavin deadpans.
“So what’ll it be, superfan?” Hollis asks.
“With you guys, it’s a yes,” Briar says.
I resist that undercurrent too.
We shift gears and chat briefly about the contest as we reach her floor. “Supposedly, the winner will be notified in a few more days.”
“I bet it’ll be you,” I say.
“I hope so, but if not, I’ll just keep moving forward with the app. It might take a little longer, but I don’t mind,” she says as she reaches her apartment and unlocks it.
Once the door’s open, Briar unclips the dog, who races across the hardwood floor to retrieve a stuffed monkey toy in the corner of the room.
I step inside but stop in my tracks. Is this…really where she lives? It’s an empty, echo-ey apartment with only an air mattress, a rickety card table, and a cold metal chair. This won’t do for a friend, let alone the woman we’re romancing.
This won’t do at all.
But I hide my shock as we say hi to the cat, give her scratches on the chin, then tell Briar we’ll see her at the next game.
When we leave, it takes all my willpower not to say a word till we get in the elevator. But once the doors snick shut, I point in the direction of her apartment and announce: “We have to do something about that right fucking away.”
64
A LITTLE GIFT
Briar
The next morning as I’m taking an online Pilates class from Sandy Ho, one of my favorite instructors, my phone rings. I hit pause since it’s the doorman. “There’s someone here to see you. Her name is Charlotte Calloway.”
I scrunch my brow. “I’m not expecting anyone by that name.”
“She says that Rhys, Hollis, and Gavin sent her. As a gift for you.”
That doesn’t really clear things up either. “I’m intrigued but I still don’t know who she is.”
He chuckles. “She said to google her.”
“Okay.” I plug her name into the search engine.
Oh.
Oh.
Wow.
That’s quite a gift. “Send her up.”
A few minutes later, I open the door for the woman who looks just like her photo on her website—Charlotte Calloway Designs. A brunette in fashionable burgundy palazzo pants and a simple white sweater flashes me the warmest smile. A constellation of freckles crinkles across her nose. “I’m your new interior designer. I’m told you have no limits to the budget. Anything you want is yours. And to let you know that I can furnish this place as quickly as you want.”
I’m a fish flapping its mouth open and closed. This is such a beautiful gift. I hate shopping so much, and I need furniture so badly, and I am so touched that they’re giving me something I could never do for myself.
Something wonderful.
Something that makes me feel special.
But it’s such a big gift. Sure, I truly appreciate them taking this whole we-stay-friends-on-the-other-side vow. I want to be certain, though, that I’m not just taking from them. “Hold on a second,” I say, then turn around and grab my phone, quickly texting them.
Briar: Guys! Seriously! This is huge. Are you sure? Like, truly sure? I know we promised to stay friends, but this is above and beyond.
Rhys: What are friends for?
Briar: I’ve never had a friendship quite like this.