Page 16 of Hello Trouble

I rolled my eyes and pulled my phone out of my dress pocket. (Those were seriously the best. Who even wore dresses without pockets anymore?)

Della: Rude.

Hayes: Exactly what I call getting adhesive on a brand-new leather seat.

If I kept rolling my eyes at this rate, they’d unscrew from the sockets. So I sent back another text instead.

Della: You’re welcome for protecting your head.

Hayes: *smirk emoji* I’m already good at making sure that’s covered.

My cheeks flamed bright red.

Hayes: Want to see?

Della: Keep it in your pants.

I turned and walked away from his motorcycle, knowing he was probably laughing inside the restaurant. I was tempted to raise a middle finger as I walked away, but between all the other innocent people in the diner and my boss inside the office, I restrained myself.

Barely.

Hayes Madigan knew how to press all my buttons. Maybe it was time I pushed some of his too.

I was back at the office, working through a stack of paperwork when my phone started vibrating like crazy.

Group Chat

Della, Henrietta, Larkin, Liv, Maggie

Liv: EMERGENCY MEETING AT DELLA’S HOUSE. TONIGHT @ 6. Ya bitches better be there.

Private text message

Liv: You’re MOVING?

I swallowed hard, seeing the flurry of text messages coming through my phone. Liv had found out I was leaving—before I had a chance to tell her. Now, not only did I feel like a shit friend for moving. I was a shit friend for keeping it from her.

Della: How did you find out?

Liv: I saw your mom at the grocery store. She thought I knew already. LIKE I SHOULD HAVE. wtf Del?

I set my phone on my desk and rubbed my temples. I was guilty. Liv was pissed. And now I had to explain. This wasn’t what I had in mind.

Della: I was going to tell you all on Saturday, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud... I’m really sorry you had to find out this way. Forgive me?

Liv: We can talk all about it tonight.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I locked my phone and tried to focus on the rest of the paperwork I had to do this afternoon. This was already the part of my job I enjoyed the least, but now it was like torture, knowing I only had a couple hours before all my friends would be at my house demanding answers it hurt to give.

I even put on a podcast recapping the latest The Great British Bake Off—a.k.a. GBBO—fan predictions, but that did nothing to distract me from my worry. Eventually, I finished up my papers and crossed the lobby to my boss’s office.

I knocked on the doorframe, and the older woman with light brown hair and giant Coke-bottle glasses looked up at me. She pushed the frames up her nose and smiled. “All done for the week?”

I nodded. “Any plans for the weekend?”

She tilted her head to the side, but her hair stayed in place thanks to gallons of Aqua Net. “Other than coming up with a scheme to keep you here?”

My lips curved into a sad smile. “Having a boss like you already makes the decision hard enough.” Edna had taken a chance on me fresh out of college. I’d grown here as a professional. As a woman. “It’s going to be hard not seeing your face every day.”

---