Page 22 of Hands off his Dudette

Chapter 10

Anna woke up to an ominousmessage from Lucy.

"I have your mission. Call me!"

She groaned, before stretching and sitting up on her bed. Always one for ripping the Band-Aid off, Anna called immediately.

"All right, hit me, I'm ready. How bad is it?"

The woman laughed on the other end of the line. "Don't hide your enthusiasm!"

"Dudette, you're scheduling two weddings in three weeks. We all know it's going to take sweat and blood."

"Touché. The two Cs," she said, referring to Carter and Cassie, "had dinner with Trick and me yesterday and we worked out the kinks, so to speak. We tried to play on everyone's strengths. As a designer, we figured you could help with our wedding registry?"

Anna blinked. "You mean, the stuff that you want people to buy you?"

Lucy replied, "Yep. I mean, maybe we'll add a couple of things ourselves, but as you said, we're going to have our asses on fire for the next few weeks. Going shopping and saving stuff is time-consuming. If you don't mind doing it, it'll be a huge weight off our shoulders. Trick and I just moved in a new place—you've seen it, it's mostly empty. We have the essentials, but no coat rack, or occasional table, or plants...Cassie and Carter are going to move soon. Their apartments are cool, but they want somewhere bigger, with a spare bedroom for when they start popping out kids, you know. We all have friends and relatives who don't know what to buy us; a small list with ten items on each one will probably help them out."

Kids. Sometimes, it was hard to remember that all her friends were proper adults. She was just a year younger than Lucy but Anna considered herself and Finn overgrown kids—the very thought of raising a mini-human being gave her hives.

"All right, I can do that. It's probably going to be easy. I'm going to spend some time in home decor stores in any case."

Lucy gasped. "Oh? So, what, you're moving out of the Johnsons' place? Or just redecorating? God know that house needs it."

"Moving," she replied, smiling from ear to ear. "Finn and I are going to buy our own apartment."

Lucy was silent for a beat, but Anna was too enthusiastic to notice.

"We just discussed it in passing a couple of days ago; next thing you know, we viewed a place and it was love at first sight, really. A penthouse in Madison, awesome view, gorgeous rooms, beautiful bathrooms, a fireplace..."

"You're buying a place. With Finn."

Anna shrugged, although Lucy wouldn't see it. "So what? We already live together."

"There's a big difference."

Was there?

"Neither of us could afford something half as amazing by ourselves. Besides, I'd hate living alone."

"Are you still going to date Amelia's friend tonight?"

Now, she grew defensive. "Sure. Why wouldn't I?"

"Okay, so hear me out. Say it works out with Mr. Doctor. You start dating, and in a few months, or a year, you want to start a life with him, live with him, maybe even marry him. But you've bought a place, made a huge financial commitment, with another guy."

Anna actually paused, because like it or not, Lucy had a point there.

"I don't...look, I've been single forever. Literally. I mean, I totally had fun with hotties at conventions but I've never had a relationship. I'm not going to put my life on hold because things might work out with a total stranger. I want out of this house. A place with my name on it."

"But it'll also have Finn's. I mean, Trick and I bought together, and Carter and Cassie are also buying together. But we're marrying each other. I really don't think you've stopped and considered what you're doing with Finn. If you're truly certain that you want to stay in a completely platonic relationship with him, this is a dumb move. But honestly, your willingness to make that commitment, in a couple of days, without seeing anything wrong with it, suggests that you, and Finn, want more with each other."

"We're just..."

"Friends, I know."

Anna could practically see Lucy roll her eyes. "You've said it, and often."

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