Page 69 of Love and Other Chances

It’syou. It’s still you. Always you. Was never not you.

“I know,” I softly reply. “It’s us. Everything.”

Chapter twenty-six

I kissed Brooks tonight

AMAYA

What in the world makes you think a text is an acceptable form of communication for that statement??

LANA

Wait! Mateo and I are driving home from a friend’s house. Give me 5 min and I’ll be able to video call

AMAYA

I might call without you . . .

LANA

NO

Don’t you dare Amaya

Teegs don’t you talk to her without me

I sit on my bed, quietly laughing at their exchange.

LANA

Mateo says I can call now and he’ll pretend not to listen but I told him no

Amaya’s video call comes through, and I laugh harder as I answer. “Lana’s gonna kill you.”

She waves me off as Lana’s face pops onto the screen. “Beef! This is unacceptable,” Lana whines. “I just need a couple of minutes!”

“What? I thought we could spend those minutes rehashing the time you called to tell us all about your first kiss with Mateo,” Amaya teases. Now my laughter fully erupts.

“Oh, yes. Please do recount that story,” Mateo says in the background of Lana’s video. I can hear the giant grin in his voice.

Even though Lana’s face is dark in the dim light of the car, I can still see the blush forming on her cheeks.

“You were there. You don’t need the playback of that story,” Lana huffs.

“Yeah, but I don’t know the juicy version as heard by the Beefs,” his voice teases. Lana jerks suddenly, and I deduce that Mateo must have pinched her side.

“Let’s just say it was crystal clear that Lana wasveryinto you,” I say loudly, grinning.

“Which was news to no one,” Amaya adds.

“What? It was an epic kiss!” Lana exclaims. Then she smirks, looking away from the camera. “The first ofmanyepic kisses.” She leans fully out of the screen now, no doubt to kiss Mateo.

Amaya groans. Lana wags her finger at the camera. “You asked for it, Beef. You’re the one who started this.”

“She’s got ya there, Amaya,” Mateo says. “Lucky for you, we just parked, so I’ll pretend to get out of the car, but really, I’ll secretly sit here eavesdropping.” I see Lana playfully punch her fist in Mateo’s direction, then hear his deep laugh. His face leans into the screen as he says, “I’ll leave you all to your juicy stories.” After placing a quick kiss on Lana’s temple, his face exits the view, and a car door shuts.

“All right, dish,” Lana demands.

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