Page 87 of Finding New Dreams

I grabbed the remote and hit pause as the three of us stared at her.

“Gina?”

Her chest heaved, and she covered her face with her hands. “Shit, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Chloe. Just keep playing the movie. I’ll be fine.”

Chloe and Sarah slid off their bed and hopped onto ours.

“No way, Gina,” Chloe said firmly, her ponytail crooked but her gaze fierce. “What happened? Is it Matteo?”

Gina mumbled through her fingers. “He cancelled on Dom for the summer. His only son, and he’s skipping out. Again.”

We looped our arms around each other and gave her a three-sided hug.

“What was the excuse this time?” Sarah demanded.

“Take your pick. Up for a promotion. Heavy caseload. Busy, busy, busy.” Gina drew in a shuddering breath and looked up. Tears trembled in the corners of her eyes, but she scowled and wiped them away. “That asshole! As if we aren’t busy too. As if his job is more important than our sweet, wonderful, perfect—” Her voice cracked. “What am I going to tell him?”

My chin trembled as I fought back my own tears. “Tell him the truth. It hurts less than holding on to a false ideal.” Childhood memories swamped my mind. “But we’ll make sure he knows that the best place for him to be is where he’s the most wanted. We’ll make it a good summer for him, Gina. Promise.”

Chloe chimed in. “Absolutely! Bonfires and sleepovers at the lodge—”

“—cookies, pastries, whatever he wants!” Sarah added. “Fishing trips, demo training. Carter would be more than happy to show him how to use a sledgehammer.”

Gina laughed. “We’ll keep the sledgehammer in reserve, but everything else sounds amazing. I’m sure he’d love more painting classes too,” she said, glancing at me.

My throat tightened. “Of course. It may just be me in a few weeks, but I’d love to have him over whenever.”

Her smile turned sympathetic, and she nodded. “Ugh, look at me, being a big, blubbering baby when we all know that was supposed to be Chloe, desperately sad to give up her single status.”

Chloe laughed. “The only thing that makes me sad is that you guys worry about me so much.” She gave me an odd look when she said that. “When really, I’m fine. Better than fine. I’m getting to marry the love of my life, and nothing can dampen that. Just because I want my best friends in the whole world to celebrate with me doesn’t mean you all aren’t allowed to have lives outside of my wedding plans.”

Sarah nudged her with a grin. “As long as we follow that wedding schedule to the minute, right?”

“Obviously,” Chloe teased.

The mood lightened again. Gina retrieved her phone, and we went back to watching the movie. But something kept nagging at me.

I grabbed my phone.

Rose: Did Chloe say anything to you earlier about us?

It took him a few minutes to respond, during which my toes wriggled with impatience.

Flynn: She did. But it’s fine. She heard the rumors about the beach. She’s not upset or getting into the middle of anything. Just warned me to behave myself like any good sister would.

I read his text several times, my breathing slowly calming down. It wasn’t exactly a blessing on her part, but maybe we didn’t have to hide so much?

But the thought of acting like a couple in front of everyone made my gut squirm. Sure, I’d wished Flynn had been in that hot tub so we could make out like the other couples. But…in reality, we weren’t on the same level as them.

They were committed. Exclusive. Gazing into a long future with each other.

Flynn and I had an expiration date. That didn’t make me want him any less, but I’d never done something like this before. I didn’t know how to act. It seemed so much easier to keep our relationship—if I could call it that—to ourselves and behind closed doors. Or on dark beaches. And hidden alcoves. And our phones.

Whatever. The point was, we didn’t need to discuss what we were doing with anyone. It’d be over before summer was. Then I’d be back to my dating app sans ArtsyHotGuy3234.

The watermelon seltzer took a hard turn in my stomach. Groaning, I clutched it.

Gina scrambled away from me. “Uh-uh, nope. You puke, you do it with your head in the toilet like a grown-ass woman.”

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