Page 66 of Friends with Benefits

She thinks,Margot is so little.

Was she ever that little? She doesn’t remember ever feeling little. Not with Imogen on her heels and Naomi’s emotions to manage. She fixates on the photo. Margot is smiling so wide her nose scrunches. Is it real? Or has Margot—a child, ababy—already learned that their mother’s mood is dependent on that smile, that Naomi’s love is conditional? If Evie thinks about Margot too much it physically hurts, so she exits Instagram and opens Aunt Miriam’s email and rereads it. Naomi could be there. But also…Margotcould be there.

Evie could see her baby sister.

“Aunt Mir sent an invitation to Avia’s b’nai mitzvah.”

“Avia’stwelve?”

“I know.”

“When is it?”

“January.”

“Do you want to go?”

She bites her lip. “Naomi could be there.”

“I hope she is.” There’s an edge to his voice. “It’s about time she faces what a massive mistake she made.”

Evie’s laugh is hollow. She chews the inside of her cheek,hard, the hidden pain of a blooming canker sore preferable to any visible signs of pain. Theo’s words hit a tender spot, but she refuses to let anyone, even him, see how raw the abandonment still feels. It’s pathetic.

“Naomi doesn’t make mistakes.”

Theo’s jaw tenses, his knuckles white against the steering wheel. “You want to go.”

She shouldn’t.

But.

Aunt Mir wrote,We miss you. Margot might be there. Combined, those two reasons are enough for her to want to put the date in her calendar, want to book a flight, want to show up for what little family she has.

“Do you have a plus-one?” Theo asks.

“I do, but—”

“Great. When is it?”

“It’s in New York.”

“I assumed.”

Evie would never ask, but of course Theo would never make her ask. Doesn’t even make her verbalize thewhythat is pulling her toward RSVPingyes. He just promises that if this is something she wants to do, he’s in. It slows down the speed of her heart, even if there’s something terrifying about the thought of herself and Theo together in New York againfor the first time since she confused her abandonment issues and missing him for something more.

Imogen’s voice echoes in her head.Come on.

It’s fine.

She has six weeks to prepare.

“Thanks, Theodore.”

“Always.”

Evie RVSPs before she can change her mind, then squeezes her eyes shut and surrenders to the fatigue in her bones, safe and scared and so exhausted.

14

---