Page 19 of Tickled Pink

“Seriously?” she asks.

“Just for an hour. Or two.”

“… Seriously?”

“I’ll make it worth your while,” I beg. “Please.”

“Two first-class tickets to wherever I want to go for spring break worth my while?” she asks.

I bite my cheek. “Sure. I can swing that.”

Jackie lets out a long, exasperated sigh. “Fine. I will call her and stall so you two can lavish her with all that adorably annoying love while I—”

“Thank you, Jackie,” I say with a smile. “Merry Christmas.”

“Yeah, Merry Cock-block to you, too,” she mutters.

I hang up and drop my phone into my pocket.

Thad looks at me with excitement. “Well? What’s your idea?”

I hold up two fingers. “One, do you remember your first date with her?”

“Second best night of my life,” he says with a shrug. “Easy.”

“Second best?” I repeat, genuinely curious.

He nods. “The night the three of us made it official wins out.” He raises his pinched fingers, fingertips separated by a short inch. “Just a tad.”

I let it sink in, slowly realizing that it might be my first choice, too. That whole weekend, actually. The three of us alone together in Phoebe’s loft with no real contact with the outside world.

That was when I truly fell in love with us.

“What’s the second thing?” Thad asks, nodding at my two fingers still hanging in the air.

I smile. “Do you know what size thong you wear?”

“Is this gonna get weird if I say yes?” he asks.

“No.”

He grins. “Then, yes.”

“Good.” I grab my car keys from my pocket and toss them at Thad. He easily catches them with a smirk. “My car’s in B lot. I’ll meet you down there in five and then I’ll explain on the way.”

Thad twirls the keys around his fingers and steps onto the elevator, his dimples still proudly displayed.

“Trust me, Maximillian,” he says as the doors close. “You had me way before thong.”

Chapter Five

Phoebe

Junk. Junk. Delete. Pin. Junk. Delete.

There’s really no better time to clean out your email inbox than when you’re avoiding your feelings on Christmas Eve.

Save for later. Delete. Delete. Super delete.

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