Page 25 of Match Penalty

I get up to chase after her and see JP try to hide his grin. "Brynn, you don't have to leave. I can see across the street. The living room lights are already off. I bet Milo and Dad are passed out together on the couch watching a documentary on flyfishing."

Brynn ignores me, grabbing her purse off the kitchen island. "Don't have too much fun without me. And update the list on the notes app. I'll check it tomorrow if I come up with anything else.”

"Brynn…" I warn again.

She turns to me, wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me in, whispering in my ear. "Here's your chance for closure. Be nice."

Be nice? Why does everyone always say that to me?

I am nice.

Besides, he's the one who left, not me.

After she leaves, an awkward silence settles over the room. JP moves to clean up the empty takeout containers, and I busy myself with cleaning the wine glasses.

After we've both finished, I look over to find JP pushing back the floor to ceiling curtains in my living room, glancing down at the street.

"What is it?" I ask, concerned he sees something happening with Brynn.

"Just making sure Brynn makes it across okay," he says, eyes fixed on the street below.

I join him at the window, drawn by the genuine concern in his voice. Our reflections overlap in the glass, and for a moment, I let myself remember how it felt—believing we could be something real.

That's when I see it—my father standing at the window across the street a few floors higher than mine, staring down at my apartment. Even from three stories up, his disapproval radiates clearly.

"He's protective. I think it's his way of coping from missing out on half of my life," I say softly, wrapping my arms around myself.

JP's reflection nods. "He has good reason to be."

The admission hangs between us, heavy with unspoken words. I turn to face him, and suddenly we're too close. I remember how those eyes looked at me the night he walked into Cooper's massive kitchen, filled with people. He made me feel like I was the only other person in the world.

Then my dad turns around, as if Brynn just walked into the apartment. JP clears his throat and then turns around. "Here, let me help you clean up."

"You already did," I tell him, following him to the kitchen, as I open the notes app back up and input JP's contact information into it. "I just sent you the document list that Brynn and I are sharing for ideas. It has our updated ideas from tonight."

A ding sounds on his phone, and he pulls it from his back pocket. "You unblocked me? Does this mean you're going to start speaking to me again in public?"

"I wouldn't go that far. Call it a professional courtesy. Abuse the right and I can just as quickly block you again."

He chuckles. "Got it. Consider me warned."

He reaches over the counter and takes two fortune cookies out of the white plastic to-go bag, offering me one. "Would dessert better my chances?"

I can't help the smile stretching across my lips. "Well, I can tell you one thing. It's not going to hurt your chances."

We both begin to unwrap the cellophane around the cookies.

“How did you remember what I ordered that night?” I ask, busying myself with cracking open my fortune cookie and pulling out the paper.

His response is immediate. “Because even though you probably won’t believe me, I remember every single thing about that night… with you." He breaks his fortune cookie open, tossing a small piece that broke off into his month and then takes out the fortune.

My heart flutters at the thought that our night together wasn't as easy for him to forget either.

When I don't reply, he reads his fortune. "The path you are on will bring you great success if you stay the course." He seems to ponder his fortune for a moment and then looks at me. "What does yours say?"

I stare back down at my fortune cookie before reading it out loud. "Always check the weather before you leave the house." I crumple it in my hand, feeling the sharp edges in my hand.

"That's a wise cookie. Do you think it's literal or figurative?" he asks.

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