Amelia
Sure did.
Me
Savage, Mystery Girl. I love it.
Amelia
I’ll let you get back to your brothers, but thanks for all the things.
Me
What things?
Amelia
You know, Diet Pepsi in a mug, cinnamon rolls, five different breakfasts, keeping my identity a secret.
Me
It was the best breakfast of my entire life. And as for the other thing, well, I kind of like having a secret with you.
Amelia
Goodnight, Elliot.
Me
Night, Mystery Girl.
With a grin permanently fixed to my face, I stand and stick my phone in my pocket, jogging down the stairs to Jordan and Jo’s apartment. When I push open the door, the two of them are tangled together on the couch, kissing like one of them is about to be shipped off to war, never to return.
“Jesus, you guys were only apart for, like, one day.”
Jordan doesn’t even lift his head, just raises his middle finger at me behind Jo’s head, never breaking their kiss. I laugh, even as I get a sharp tug of longing thinking of the brown-haired girl who can’t be mine. Yet.
“Jesus fuck, you guys, enough with the making out where everyone can see you. You’re in love. You’re obsessed with each other. We get it.”
I laugh again, setting the pan of brownies I’m holding down on the coffee table and turning as Cooper strolls into the apartment, an uncharacteristic scowl on his face. This time Jo and Jordan do break apart.
“What’s with you?” Jordan asks him, shifting so Jo is sitting next to him, his arm draped over her shoulders.
Cooper shakes his head, huffing out a frustrated breath and dropping onto the couch on Jo’s other side. “It’s that new associate at the firm. She’s making me crazy.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “I guess you’re not talking about the good kind of crazy?”
He gives me a bland look. “No, I am definitely not talking about the good kind of crazy. I’m talking about the steals cases right out from under me, everything’s a competition, sucks up to all the partners to make everyone else but especially me look bad kind of crazy.”
Jo leans forward, and Jordan’s hand immediately moves to her back, like he has to be touching her at all times. “It must be pretty bad for you to be so annoyed. I didn’t think anything could annoy you.”
Cooper groans, scrubbing his hands over his face. “This really isn’t like me, but for some reason, Evangeline Rhodes turns me into an entirely different person, and I hate it. Quick, someone change the subject.”
I sit down in the chair across from the couch, glancing at the three of them. I may not be able to tell them who Amelia really is, but I can tell them something, and not just to save Cooper from thinking about his lawyer nemesis. Because these are my people, and I may keep some parts of myself close, but this isn’t one of those things.
“So, I kind of have news.”
Three heads whip in my direction so fast I laugh. “It’s…sort of big news.”
