“I miss you.”
We both sigh. “I miss you too. I wish I was going to make it back before you fly back to Seattle, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Plus, I wouldn’t want to interfere with your Cheesecake Factory night.”
“I wouldn’t let you interfere with it, but I would have loved to spend my last night in North Carolina with you. You know, after we ate all the food.”
“I would have loved that too.”
We’re both quiet, and I desperately want to tell him about Roxie’s bombshell, but I promised I wouldn’t.
All those trips to the yarn store? The guy with the dogs is the owner! Here we were thinking she was starting a new hobby, and she was really just making excuses to hang out with him without us knowing.
Although, she started a really pretty scarf, so maybe there’s an actual hobby in there somewhere.
Still, I can’t tell him about it, because that would be wrong.
So I approach the other, smaller bombshells.
“Have you talked to Zayne? Or Mike lately?”
“We were texting the other day. How come?”
“Did either of them mention anything…relationship related?”
His laugh is low and gruff and so damn appealing. “Relationship related? Are you asking me if they talked about their relationships with Loren and Vanessa?”
“Ugh…yes, Ash. That’s exactly what I’m asking!”
“Oh, um…then no. We were talking about going in on season tickets for the Hurricanes. Why?”
“Zayne and Vanessa are planning on moving in together—like buying a house together—and Mike and Loren are going to do a destination wedding in Turks and Caicos to avoid the drama with Loren’s parents,” I blurt out, leaving myself breathless.
“Oh, we talked about all of that on the drive back from the beach. I figured the girls would mention it to you eventually.”
“Ash!” I cry. “How could you not tell me? That’s huge news!”
“Which one?”
“Both! Sheesh!”
“Liv, I’m sorry. I didn’t mention it because it wasn’t my place.”
“Oh.”
“Besides, I rarely gossip.”
“Maybe you just never had someone to gossip with. But for the record, I wouldn’t mind if you ever wanted to try gossiping. You know, just between the two of us.”
He laughs again. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good.”
“So it sounds like everyone’s letting down their guard and talking about things that they were maybe waiting to share. Any other big news?”
Hmm…I guess I could mention Roxie’s news—even though I promised not to—but I figure I might as well drop my own.
“Well, maybe just one little, teeny, tiny bit of news.”
“O-kay…”
