Page 108 of The Comeback Summer

We’re both quiet, and my mind drifts to our grandmother, the way it often does.

“I wonder what GiGi would think of this mess we’ve made,” I say.

Hannah stiffens beside me. “Actually... I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”

“Is everything okay?” I ask, concerned.

She bites her lip, hesitating. “Well, I—”

A volleyball sails toward me, and I shriek, throwing my hands up to block myself from being hit in the face.

“Sorry about that!” a teenage boy calls, running up to us.

I toss him the ball. “No worries,” I say, then turn to my sister. “What were you saying?”

Hannah blinks. “Oh. We just need to be careful about the budget, okay? If the squatters are using our printers, they should pitch in for ink and paper.” She stands, wrapping her towel around her. “What do you say we catch an Uber home?”

“Nah,” I say. “Let’s walk.”

Thirty-Six

HANNAH

I’m hiding in one of the bathroom stalls at work with my phone, calling Josh’s number and silently praying that he picks up.

Then he does: “Banana! I was just thinking about you. How—”

“Serena and Preeti said yes,” I blurt. “They sent me an email saying they’d love to work with me.”

A pause. “They did?”

“They did.”

I hear a full-throated whoop so loud I cover the phone with my hand, just in case my sister, Great Scott, and the NPCs hear it echoing throughout the office.

“I’m so proud of you!” Josh shouts. Then in a muffled voice, like he’s speaking to someone else: “Sorry, sorry—I’ll leave.” To me, with an embarrassed chuckle, “I just startled every person and animal in the area. But goddamn, Hannah, that’s incredible! How are you feeling?”

“Shocked,” I say.

“I’m not. Not at all.” He’s a bit out of breath, like he’s walking up a flight of stairs. “I want to hear all about it, but I don’t want to be distracted and there’s a lot going on here.”

“I totally understand.”

“Save tonight for me, will you? We should celebrate; go to dinner, drink some champagne,” he says. “How about I get a hotel reservation? I want to get you naked and not have to worry about your sister in the next room.”

A pulse of heat shoots through me. “I love this idea.”

“Great. I’ll see you tonight. Oh, and Hannah?”

“Yeah?”

“I am seriously so proud of you.”

•••

JOSH MANAGED TOget us a reservation at Nobu, a fancy sushi restaurant in the West Loop. Dinner is perfect—the food is delicious, the champagne is bubbly, and Josh is enthusiastic and attentive as I tell him all about my plans for Serena and Preeti’s book. It’s the perfect distraction from the overwhelming sense of impending doom I have regarding the financial state of the Freedman Group. And the fact that I’m too chicken to talk to my sister about any of it.

As the evening passes, I realize that this is the first real, grown-up dinner date we’ve ever been on. High school dances, college parties, pizza dinners, and movies at the discount theater were fun, but this is a whole new world. We’re adults now, with real jobs and real responsibilities, and I keep smiling when I remember that he has chosenme.

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