Page 87 of Firecracker

“Jesus. Take a day off, if you need.” He stood, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m not worried about that.” He edged toward the door.

Arden would have laughed if she hadn’t been hurting for her new friend.

“You want me to go find him?” Jamie paused at the door. “Take him down?”

Mila snorted. “You’re not exactly a big bruiser.”

“Hey.” Jamie frowned and squared his shoulders. “I could do it.”

Mila tilted her head and gave him a sad smile. “Thank you. But it’s okay. Really. I signed him up for a bunch of newsletters about erectile dysfunction and penis enlargement. Also some gay porn sites.”

Arden choked on her wine.

Jamie grinned. “Attagirl. We could hack into his Facebook and Snapchat too, if you want.”

Mila’s head tilted the other way. “I’ll consider it.” Her smile warmed. “You’re a good friend, Jamie.”

“Yeah.”

Arden grinned at his agreement. “But not good enough to stick around to dry her tears.”

“I hate crying,” Jamie muttered. “But Iamhere for you.”

“I know.” Mila waved him out.

When he’d gone, Mila turned back to the counter and slumped on it. “Damn.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Do you have any more wine?”

“I do.” Arden retrieved another bottle from the fridge, this one a nice pinot grigio.

“Can I get drunk?”

“I think in this situation, you absolutelymustget drunk. And probably eat some junk food.”

“What’ve you got?”

Arden wrinkled her nose. “Not much that’s junky. Vanilla ice cream. Cheese and crackers.”

“That’s not good enough. I need potato chips. Ahugebag of chips. And possibly peanut butter cup ice cream. That’s my favorite.”

“You want me to go out and get some?”

“No. Course not. You’re a good friend too, but I don’t need junk food. Wine is good.”

“I also have Jägermeister.”

Mila’s eyes widened. “Even better!”

Arden opened the wine. She’d look after Mila. Sure, she’d serve her a couple of shots, but she’d make sure she didn’t overdo it, and she’d make sure she made it safely home. All the way downstairs. She smiled. “Want to tell me about it?”

Mila sighed and drank again. “I don’t know. It’s done. Things weren’t great for a long time. You know that.”

“Yeah.”

“I kind of felt it was coming.” Mila moved the base of her wine glass in a circle on the granite counter. “It’s just…well, I told you and Emma…it’s just one more thing on my list I thought I’d checked off, and now it’s over.”

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