Page 46 of The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love

‘Tuesday. I’d just got back from my date with Zach.’

‘I don’t remember.’

‘Don’t remember arguing or don’t remember what you were arguing about?’

Oz sighs. ‘You know when I decided to take pity on you – thanks for the massive guilt trip by the way – and help keep you company tonight … it wasn’t so you could ask your endless questions.’

‘Okay.’ I pour another double into the glass. ‘Coming in hot,’ I warn and slide it down the steel counter towards him. It stops in the middle of the island and we both stare at it. ‘Pretty sure I can rule out a past life running a saloon in the Wild West,’ I declare.

This produces a chuckle that lifts my heart as Oz reaches for the glass and whistles a few notes of ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’. He turns the heat down on the pan of infusing cherries and sets a timer before taking another gulp.

I imagine Sarah whispering in my ear, ‘Do you feel lucky, punk?’ and I decide I do and ask, ‘So, where is Carlos, tonight?’

‘Out seeing an old friend.’

The way he says it flat and sort of final has my heart thumping. ‘And you weren’t invited along?’

‘I wasn’t.’

‘Rude,’ I empathise. ‘So, is that what you were arguing about?’

Another sigh. ‘If Carlos wants to go out with old friends on the one night off we have together a week, he’s free to do so. I don’t keep him chained in the basement.’

‘I suppose it’s the one night off he has a week, period.’

Oz ignores me and opens the oven to take out the first batch of cookies.

As a distraction, it works because as the top of the chocolate brownie mixture cracks, my mouth starts to water. ‘Oh my God, they look and smell amazing. Can I help you make the next batch?’

‘Will you stop asking questions if I show you?’

‘It’s called conversation.’

‘Right. So why aren’t you out with Zach tonight?’

‘He goes home to visit his mom on the weekends.’

Oz snorts.

‘What?’ I say staring at him. ‘You don’t think he does?’

‘What do I know?’

I frown. ‘You think he’s out seeing an old friend?’

‘Or a new friend?’

Wow. The thought had never occurred to me. ‘You’re too pretty to be this cynical, Oz.’

‘Hey, if you say Zach’s at home with his mom, who am I to say he probably isn’t.’

‘Who are you? You’re my friend so I would say that gives you the right to be interested, concerned, and in other words, have an opinion.’ My statement is bold and steals my breath but what am I supposed to do? Go through life without any new friends? It’s why I asked Carlos and Oz to help me find someone to hang out with on the weekend. ‘I guess it doesn’t really matter either way where Zach may or may not be tonight,’ I add, ‘since I hardly know him at all and don’t have any claim on him.’

‘But if you did, how would it make you feel?’

I stare at the batch of brownies. ‘Like if I wasn’t invited out to see this old friend, I would probably invite myself along, so that I could really see what was going on.’

Oz busies himself with measuring out chocolate, his actions swift and practised, his voice low and careful, as he says, ‘And what if he told you where he was going and you happened to find yourself in the exact same place only to find he wasn’t there at all?’

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