She leans in, voice dropping just enough to make me squirm. “You’re falling for him.”
I groan, covering my face with my hands. “Don’t say it out loud.”
“It’s about damn time, Katie.” I peek through my fingers, glaring at her, but she just grins. She’s got that “I told you so” look on her face.
“Finn’s a good man. You know that. Hell, he even survived dinner with your Mamma without running for the hills. That alone makes him a saint.”
I huff out a chuckle. “You have a. Point. The problem is, I don’t know what to do with it,” I admit.
“Maybe,” Shay says, her tone soft but firm, “you stop trying todosomething with it and just let it happen.”
She has a point. Shay is usually right because no one knows me better than her and Finn.
We fall back into our usual rhythm after that—feet kicked up on the coffee table, mugs in hand, like no time has passed at all.
“So,” I ask, grateful for the lighter shift, “how’s the influencer life treating you, Shay? Still getting free lip gloss?”
She laughs, rolling her eyes. “Oh, you know. Just another day of pretending my life is more glamorous than it is. They sent me a weighted blanket last week. Said it was for my ‘anxious girl autumn aesthetic.’”
I snort into my coffee. “That’s a real thing?”
“Apparently.” She grins. “You should’ve seen me trying to make it look cute on Instagram. I nearly suffocated myself under it.”
We both burst out laughing, and for the first time in weeks, everything feels easy again.
When the laughter fades, she nudges me. “Speaking of autumn… are you still recording the new album here?”
I nod, setting my mug down. “Yeah. I start in October. We’ll be local for a couple of months. The band will be happy because they will get to be home for a spell.”
Her face lights up. “Finally. You know what that means?”
I arch a brow, already smiling. “Pumpkin spice lattes and bad decisions?”
“Obviously.” She winks. “And girls’ nights. You and me. No husbands, no managers, no drama.”
I haven’t thought that far ahead. But she has a point. Finn and I have been chasing each other up and down the seaboard.
“I don’t know how it’s gonna work with Finn being on the road.”
I glance away, tracing the rim of my mug with my thumb. Shay’s smile softens. She doesn’t tease—she knows when I’m in an anxious spiral.
“We won’t be able to see each other as much,” I admit, my voice quieter now. “It’s been… easy lately, with him off-season. But once hockey starts? He’s gone half the year.”
“Kate,” Shay says, leaning in. “That’s not something you need to solve right this second.”
I shake my head. “It’s just—this thing between us is already complicated. And I don’t even know what itisyet.”
She watches me carefully, her gaze steady and knowing.
“This is the dating dance,” she says, smiling just a little. “Only difference is, you’re already married.”
I blink, caught off guard by howtruethat sounds.
“You’re figuring each other out,” she adds, like it’s the simplest thing in the world. “That’s what this part’s for.”
I stare at her, heart thudding a little too hard, because it’s terrifying how right she is.
Shay grins, smug and soft. “Relax, Katie. You’re allowed to just… feel it out.”
