Page 109 of Rewriting the Story

With these people around me, I can't imagine our love ever ending. In fact, if I think about how close we are, I’m sure our love will never end. It can’t—not when it’s this real.

“So, when can we get together and have a proper date night with all of us? And when can Henry bring me a new copy of his latest project?I’m ready to saw my arm off and give it to him if it will help him write faster.”

“No need to remove any of your limbs, Grant,” Henry says as he comes out of the shower, a towel hanging low on his waist.

“Oh, hello.” Ella winks at me through the camera as Leo rolls his eyes.

“Shit,” he says as he slides out of frame. “I didn't know it was a video call.”

“It’s okay, babe.”

“Oh my God, she called him babe!” Paige shouts. “This is the best news I could have woken up to. I am so happy for you two.”

“Thanks.” I smile as Henry locks eyes with me where I sit on his bed. “We’re happy too.”

“You two deserve it,” Hads tells me. “When is everyone able to get together? We need a group debrief.”

“Can everyone put their work schedules into the shared calendar? Then we’ll be able to see what weekend is best for everyone,” Ella says as she taps on her phone.

“I’ll send it to Henry,” I let them know.

“Thanks, Mills.” He comes over to me, now fully dressed, and presses a quick kiss to my lips before he heads for his computer. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a book to write.”

“Hell yeah, you do!” Grant shouts. “Thanks, Hen.”

“Well, I don’t want you to lose any more limbs,” he jokes. “Stay as long as you want, baby. I don’t mind the company.”

“Okay.” I smile at him, knowing I’m going to make myself comfortable with one of the hundreds of books he has on his shelves. “I’ll talk to you guys soon?”

“Thanks for the update, Ames.” Paige smiles. “I missed our morning chats. It feels like we’re in college again.”

“I’ve missed them too.”

“Bye, Amelia,” Ella and Leo say at the same time before they hang up.

“Mr. Grouch? Anything to say?” I note how quiet Oliver has been throughout this whole thing.

“Seeing you this happy is weird as fuck. Go back to being cold and annoying, or the planet is going to spin off its axis.”

I throw a smile his way. “Yeah, well, now you know how it felt watching you fall in love with Paige. You’ve gone soft, dumbass.”

Paige just sighs heavily as she looks between Oliver and the phone.

“Sorry, P,” I say.

“Sorry, my love,” Oliver says as he kisses her on the cheek. “Bye, psycho.”

“See you later, loser,” I joke. As I grab a book from Henry’s bedroom shelves, I hear him laugh to himself in the other room, probably from eavesdropping on our conversation. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mills.”

42

Martingale by Searows

“Sheofferedmethejob on the spot,” I tell Henry as I walk out of the building. “Kacey was excited to know I’m back in Virginia for good.”

“I told you, Ames.” I can hear his smile over the phone. To say I was terrified for this interview today was an understatement. Knowing I was going to be interviewing at the place where I did my internship helped to ease my anxiety a little. Kacey, my old supervisor, helped me get the job over in England, but I was still worried. For some reason, even though I did great work, I thought I was going to look stupid coming back to the place I once worked at. I thought she would ask me about the forced leave I took at the beginning of the year, but that never came up. Sure, my work faltered a little bit, but it went right back up to where it was as soon as I had better coping mechanisms and understood my brain a little better.

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