Page 197 of With a Cherry On Top

“How was the cake?”

“Cake was fine,” she says as she settles on the step next to me. “Greg, on the other hand, remains the most boring man on earth.”

I fight a chuckle. She’s got a point, but he’s what Josie needs, and I’m happy they found each other.

She motions around us. “You thought I forgot about this, didn’t you?”

“Well, youdidignore all of my texts.”

“That’s because you keep sending me those corny GIFs.”

“‘Have a good day’ is a corny GIF?”

“When it’s a stuffed bear holding a heart saying it, yes.” She points at the beers in my hands. “So how does this work?”

Someone’seager to go out with her friends. Better make it quick. Or not. “Beer? Well, it’s made from water, barley, hops, and yeast, which all undergo a fermentation proce?—”

“This whole . . . birthday tradition. How does it work?”

“Very simple.” I twist the cap off one beer and hand it over, then do the same with the other. I hold mine forward and angle myself slightly to face her. “It’s your sixteenth birthday. On mine, I drank my first beer.”

“Amillionyears ago,” she teases.

“Ah-ha. I shared that beer with my best friend, Uncle Logan. And now you’re sharing it with yours.”

“Oh,you’remy best friend?”

I gasp. “Am I not?”

“Sure. After Harriet, Thomas, Lindsey?—”

“Okay, okay. That’s just hurtful.”

“Come on, Dad. Wouldn’t it be sad if you were my best friend?”

Sad? No, it wouldn’t be sad. I’ve been her best friend her whole life. Her confidant and her biggest fan.

I shrug. “You’remybest friend.”

She shakes her head. “Because you’re obsessed with me.”

I won’t even deny it. “I really am.”

She clinks her beer against mine. “Here’s to my birthday then.”

“And to you, a smart, beautiful young woman who?—”

“Daaad.”

“Fine. Let’s just drink.”

We both take a sip, and I watch her reaction as she smacks her lips, then hums. “Tastes like every other beer I’ve had before.”

Every otherwhat?

I see her smirk just as the words begin forming on the tip of my tongue. She tilts the beer back, but I hold a hand over the top. “That’s enough for you, actually.”

“What? One sip?”

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