Page 26 of The Cupid Chronicles

I have to tell someone what’s happening—and Brooke and Liz will eat this up. They might even make me feel like I’m not losing my mind. Maybe they can even help me figure out what to do next. Even if talking about it out loud makes me feel a little ridiculous.

I inhale a slow breath, then say, on an exhale, “Do you actually believe my building is magic?”

“Uh,yeah.” Her eyes go wide. “Wait.”

I wince.

Her eyebrows shoot up. “Do you? Did something happen?!”

I pause. “Maybe?”

“Oh, my gosh. Tell me everything.” She doesn’t hide the excitement in her voice. “Wait, we need to get Liz.” She pulls out her phone, shoots off a text, and less than twenty seconds later, we’re a trio.

She doesn’t say anything when she comes in, and I can only assume this is because Brooke’s text revealed enough for her to know that we’re talking magic—a subject they take very seriously if their expressions, a mix of somber and bursting, are any indication.

“Okay,” I say, trying to choose my words. “I know how this is all going to sound.”

Liz waves me off. “Just tell us what’s happening. Is it the hot chef? Did you run into him again?” She looks at me, deadpan. “Isthatthe kind of magic we’re talking about here?”

“Oh, my goodness,no,” I say, shaking my head. “I mean, yes. I did run into him again?—”

They both hold in a squeal.

“—andthat only confirmed what I already knew. That man is a serious jerk.”

They exchange a glance and a shrug, acting like his completely off-putting nature doesn’t matter.

Then Brooke takes my hands and says, “Tell useverything,” so dramatically, I almost forget how ludicrous this is going to sound.

I inhale a slow breath and then unload the entire story. I soften the parts that make me look like a total halfwit. I also leave out how I felt when I first saw Matteo, with his runway-worthy looks.

I don’t want to admit that Ireallyliked what I saw. But Ireallyliked what I saw.

The whole thing is awkward, and I feel a little silly. It’s one thing to say you believe in things like magic, but something else entirely to say you’reexperiencingit first-hand.

When I finally stop talking, I lean back in my chair and wait for their judgment. “Well?” My eyes bounce from Liz to Brooke and back.

Finally, Brooke stands. “This. Is.Awesome.” Her eyes are wide, her mouth agape with delighted anticipation, while Liz leans back in her chair, apparently processing.

“It’s really not,” I groan. “It’s confusing. And weird. It’s weird, right? It’s weird.”

“Weird as it may be, Iris, it’s obvious,” Liz states matter-of-factly.

“What is?”

“You need to get Winnie a cat.”

“Yeah, I thought about that,” I say. “But I don’t even know if she wants another cat.”

“Oh, she wants a cat,” Brooke chimes in. “The article said she was struggling because she lost Lenny.”

“And you saw the kids with the dogs today—animals keep people from being lonely. That’s not a coincidence,” Liz says. Then, after a slight pause, “Actually,youshould get a cat.”

“Me? Yeah, no, I definitely don’t want a cat,” I say, brushing her off.

“A dog, then?” She offers.

“Maybe the whole point of this was to show you that you need a dog,” Liz suggests.

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