Page 85 of Love, Morgan

“Why, exactly?”

“Because my love got your coffee right.”

“Your lovealwaysgets my coffee right.”

“Right. So you owe me a prize.”

Iona giggled as Alicia rolled her eyes and said, “I didn’t see you guessing.”

“I don’t need to. I’m just here to look pretty and be awesome. And I need you to be useful and come cook twenty mangoes into that chutney you make.”

She laughed around another sip of her coffee. “Twenty this time? Thalia was feeling adventurous.”

“Indeed,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“I don’t even know who she’s in contact with that can keep dropping off so many mangoes,” Iona said, naming exactly the thought I’d been having since we opened the front door yesterday to find a crate of mangoes waiting for us.

It really was very annoying that Iona was friends with her. Even if I loved how happy she made Iona. But I was never telling Thalia that part out loud.

Alicia cleared her throat pointedly and gestured towards the back of the store.

“Ripley?” Iona and I gasped at the same time. She was surprised. I was scandalized. My best friend, really?

“Call her right now,” I said to Iona. “We need to have words.”

She laughed. “I can’t call her now. She’ll be working.”

“I don’t care. I was working when she sent twenty mangoes to my house.”

“Can mangoes interrupt UX designers?” Alicia muttered, not really asking.

Iona giggled and leaned in close to my ear. “I don’t think that was work.”

I cleared my throat. “Fine. It wasn’t, but that’s not the point. She interrupted my time with you.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Ripley said, appearing from the back of the store, “but you’re constantly interrupting other people, so it’s about time the tables turned.”

“You,” I spat, glaring in her direction.

“Hello. ‘Tis I, Ripley Stone, your best friend.”

“Some best friend you are,” I said, trying not to be distracted by the soft kisses Iona was pressing into my shoulder. “Twenty mangoes? Have you lost your senses?”

She laughed. “Hey, Iona’s bestie wants to send you twenty celebratory mangoes, and who am I to deny the woman what she wants?”

“Mybest friend? A person with common sense?”

Iona winced. “I’ll talk to Thalia. Maybe ask her to tone it down with the mangoes. I dread to think how many she’ll send as a housewarming gift for me moving in.”

“She won’t be sending any because my best friend, my closest family in all the world—besides you—is going to stop acting as a weird mango go-between.” I shook my head at Ripley, who still looked far too amused with the situation for my liking.

Before she could respond, though, the door swung open, its little jingle drawing all of our attention.

Ekundayo walked in, chatting animatedly with Joel. Neither of them seemed to notice the rest of us were there.

I shared a look with Iona. It wasn’t like I didn’t get it. It was hard to remember the rest of the world existed when I was with her—unless my supposed best friend was conspiring to send me tropical fruits—but the two of them were starting to get dreadfully painful in their obliviousness. If even I’d managed to find someone, fall in love, and be on the precipice of moving in with her before they’d even properly admitted to liking each other, they were doing something wrong.

“Good morning, Joel,” Alicia said, suddenly going into full big sister mode.

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