Page 13 of All's Well that Friends Well

“No,” Luca returns evenly. “You like me.” His gaze intensifies on me. “Don’t you?”

A car drives past on the street behind me, and I’m grateful for the sudden burst of noise, because it allows me a microsecond to collect my thoughts and swallow my shock. I clear my throat and straighten up.

“I do.” There’s no reason to deny it. I haven’t been subtle. Still, despite knowing these things, my cheeks heat further—embarrassment and vulnerability and pain.

Luca looks briefly surprised, though; his dark brows shoot up before he smooths his expression once more. “Don’t pretend you’re altruistic when you have an ulterior motive.”

And before I can say anything else, he closes the door in my face.

I’m not a patient person,which means by the time I get into my car—parked a few houses down the street—I’m already calling my sisters. They should both still be at home, since India doesn’t have a shift today and Aurora rarely works on Saturdays.

I will be telling them about my job; I willnotbe telling them about my exchange with Luca.

When India answers the phone, I don’t bother with any greetings. Instead I say, “Put me on speaker. Are you with Ror?”

There’s a second of silence, maybe because she’s surprised at how I sound—I’m having a hard time containing my news—and then India says, “I’ll go get her. But what’s up? You sound weird.”

“Wait until Aurora is here,” I say. “But hurry!” I inject as much positivity and enthusiasm into my voice as possible, and mentally, I do the same—tell myself that life isn’t always sunshine and roses, and I have to suck it up anyway. There are still things to smile about.

It’s just…I love sunshine. I love roses.

But I also love having a job and not having to leech off my sisters.

“I—okay,” India says quickly, and over the line I hear the faint sound of her feet thudding up the stairs. A few seconds later, she speaks again. “Aurora,” she says, breathless now. “Jules is on the phone.” The sound quality changes as she adds, “Okay, you’re on speaker.”

“Okay, are you ready?” I say. But I guess I’m too impatient to let them respond, because my words burst out of me. “I found a job!”

Two seconds of silence greet me, and then?—

“What?Where?”

“You did? Where?—”

They’re trying to talk over each other, only garbled fragments coming through to me, and the weight in my chest lightens. I laugh as the giddy relief I’ve been waiting for rushes through my veins.

This right here—this makes it worth it to take anunimpressive job at the workplace of the man I’m harboring a major crush on. Telling my sisters, hearing their excitement, knowing how much they love me and how much I love them.

“I’m headed home and then I’ll tell you everything,” I say as my smile finally rests happily and genuinely on my face. “I’ll be there in five.”

“We’re excited for you,” Aurora says, and I can hear the smile in her voice, too.

“Drive safe!” India adds. “We’ll see you in a few.Oh—and we have to celebrate!” Her voice turns thoughtful. “Do you want Mexican? Chinese?”

An old, familiar anxiety pulses in my gut, trying to expand, but I push it down. “Mexican,” I say, refusing to let my smile waver. “I’ll be there in a minute. Bye!”

And they’re waiting for me in the kitchen by the time I get home, Aurora sitting on the countertop, dressed in her comfy clothes of leggings and a t-shirt. India stands next to her, her fingers drumming restlessly on the counter. She brightens when I enter through the garage, her freckles dancing.

Well. Freckles don’t actually dance. But she smiles, and that sort of makes them look like they’re dancing, you know? The way someone is just so happy to see you that they light up. That’s what being sisters with Aurora and India is like. There’s always someone who smiles when you walk in the room, unless you’ve borrowed their shoes without asking.

Indy is mostly the one who does that.

“Okay,” she says now. “Tell us.”

Aurora nods keenly, her legs swinging. “Where are you working?”

“I’m working at Explore,” I say. “Over on Main.”

India blinks at me, and a little frown brackets Aurora’s lips.

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