Page 144 of Friends with Benefits

You.

You.

He chuckles softly. He’ll just have to tell her when she wakes up, as soon as they land, on the subway, before they fall asleep tonight, the moment they wake up tomorrow morning. Again and again and again. Now, as they take flight and careen into the unknown with their hands and hearts intertwined, Theo just presses his lips gently against the top of her head, so happy, so terrified, socontentto allow both things to be true.

ONE YEAR LATER

Evie

“You’ll never believe what we heard on our walk.” Evie enters their apartment like a hurricane, a leash wrapped around her wrist. Rupert, a nine-year-old mutt with cavalier ears and the squishiest, most perfect face, dashes over to Theo the moment Evie frees him, in the hope of scoring some kitchen scraps. “Acerulean warbler.”

“Oh?”

“It was majestic, Theodore.” She inhales the scent of homemade tomato sauce. “God, that smells incredible.”

“Lasagna is in the oven.” Theo brushes his lipshelloagainst hers. “What’s a cerulean warbler sound like?”

She smiles. “I’m so glad you asked.”

Evie plays him the sound and is still somewhat in disbelief that she moved all the way to New York City and becamea bird person. It’s less about the birds and more about their songs. More about the fact that a cerulean warbler is part of the soundscape of the city, a layer that she never could’ve uncovered if she didn’t live here. How inspiration is everywhere. Evie collects new sounds every time she steps outside. Mimicsa random person’s gait every time she walks her dog. Becomes a better Foley artist.

“What did you think, Roo?” Theo squats to greet him with plain pasta he set aside. “Was it majestic?”

Evie rolls her eyes. “Pretty sure Rupert’s definition ofmajesticis Penelope’s butthole.”

Penelope is the miniature schnauzer who lives next door.

“Evelyn! So judgmental.” Theo’s laughter fills their five-hundred-square-foot apartment as he stands and washes his hands. “This is why I’m the favorite.”

“Right. It has nothing at all to do with the pasta.”

“Nope.”

Evie kisses the smirk right off his face. Rupert (who will also respond to Roo, Dude, and Short King) made eye contact with Theo when they came across a fostering booth at the Union Square farmers market. Then he just trotted over to Evie and Theo like he belonged to them. It was love at first sight.We’re taking him home, Theodore. She swore it would be a foster situation, to test out how it felt to have a dog.Temporary.After a month, they signed the adoption papers, and just like that, oops, they had a dog!

Rupert zoomies around the apartment before collapsing onto the pile of blankets that he prefers to his bed.

It melts her heart.

Evie washes her hands in the bathroom sink, then unzips and shrugs off her track jacket. She reenters their living space in just a sports bra and leggings and their apartment doesn’t justsmellincredible. The table is set with the ceramic dishware. A bottle of red wine is uncorked. Fancy bread is on the table. In abasket.

“What—?”

“Happy anniversary, Ev.”

“We said we weren’t doing anything!”

“It’s just lasagna.”

“How much did that bread cost?”

“Don’t ask.”

“Theodore.”

“Sit.”

“Bossy,” she teases.

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