Page 60 of The Snowball Effect

Emma wondered if Regan even knew she did this if she was aware of her lack of personal space. It hadalwaysbeen something Emma had noted about Regan, even before they’d made peace. The way Regan never moved out of her way or the casual touching she engaged in. But ever since last weekend, it seemed to be more intense. Like when they sat on the couch together to watch tv, Regan always took the seat immediately to Emma’s side, so their legs and arms brushed.

“Um.” Emma cleared her throat, her cheeks flushing as she stepped a few inches back. “It’s just a blanket. I was there whenyou and Sutton debated who got to keep that Helene Pierce sherpa throw blanket, and Sutton ultimately ended up bringing it to Rome, so…”

Emma honestly hadn’t thought much about buying the blanket for Regan. She’d been at the store later that day, buying a few necessities for her move, and had seen the exact blanket Regan and Sutton had debated about on the shelf. Even if she hadn’t had any desire to befriend Regan, she felt it would be a little shitty to move in with her two days before Regan’s birthday and then totally ignore the occasion.

Which… had ended up being exactly what Emma had done.

“The Helene Pierce blanket?!” Regan gasped, reaching out to grasp Emma’s wrist. A wide smile played on her ridiculously full lips as she bounced onto her tiptoes. “Seriously?”

“It’s just a blanket,” Emma muttered, embarrassment filtering through her. “Don’t make it a big deal.”

Regan’s gaze stayed solidly on Emma’s eyes wide and alarmingly soft. “You got me a birthday present.”

That feeling in the pit of Emma’s stomach fluttered again, and she deliberately stepped away from Regan in the direction of the food. “Anyway, let’s eat before you make it weird.”

“Too late!”

ten

“Not to be too graphic,but I could feel my own asshole puckering just from being able to see the look on Allegra’s face when she was dressing down Henry earlier,” Brynn commented as the elevator doors shut behind them to bring them to the lobby.

Dubiously, Emma shot a look at her coworker. “Thatwas you not being too graphic?”

Brynn didn’t blink. “Did you feel differently?”

Emma, admittedly, did not. Brynn had done her job and scoured through Henry’s articles for the last several months, making notes on them and landing them on Allegra’s desk last week.

She hadn’t been pleased with the findings; Henry had heard all about it today. He was on very, very thin ice atOlly, and now everyone knew it. At least Emma, Brynn, and Henry all did.

“There’s always an upside to a staff writer getting fired, though,” Brynn stated brightly as they stepped off the elevator together, walking toward the exit. “It means that Allegra will be farming out for replacement pieces in the meantime before hiring a new one. Opportunity.”

Emma’s ears perked up at that, and doubt followed quickly on its heels as she dug through her bag for her sunglasses. Even though it was nearly six in the evening, it was still the dead of summer and would be several more hours before the blaring sun went down. “Do you really think we’d have a chance for that?”

Her skepticism was clear in her tone, but she stood by it. Emma was just starting to really find her feet here as an assistant – as of today, it had been the first whole week without her putting her foot in her fucking mouth in front of Allegra. She wasn’t even sure she had the right to dream about having anopportunityto write right now.

But she couldn’t deny that there was a sense of excitement trilling inside of her at the very idea. Because while being an assistant to Allegra Pantone was a big fucking deal, a job she was lucky to have, Emma had never dreamed of being an assistant; she dreamed of being a writer.

“I don’t know for sure,” Brynn answered. “But Idoknow that the lead assistant before I was here was Abigail Talle, so…”

Emma did a double-take. “Like, the staff writer in the food section, Abigail Talle?”

“The very one. All I’m saying is that Henry’s ass getting fired in the near futurecouldbe a potential boon for one of us.” Brynn smartly finished as they walked through the revolving glass doors and onto the sidewalk.

Now that July had rolled in, they were in the thick of the summer humidity, which Emma had never been a fan of. But she supposed she had something to be grateful for – the disgusting heat wave that had attacked for most of June had finally abated. Now, they were living innormalcity swamp temperatures.

Before she could say her goodbyes to Brynn, she heard her own name being called from behind her. “Emma! Perfect timing.”

Baffled, she spun around to spot Regan quickly approaching. As always, an exuberantly large smile split her wide, plush lips and revealed the picture-perfect dentistry Emma was sure Regan’s wealthy parents had paid for.

Granted, it paid off. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen a more beautiful smile than Regan’s, nor had she ever met someone who wore it more. It had certainly been on display around their apartment near-constantly in the last two weeks.

Emma lifted a finger to slide her sunglasses slightly down the bridge of her nose to peer at Regan over the top. “Regan? What are you doing here? At my work?”

“Regan?” Brynn echoed her name, amusement dripping from her tone.

Emma had somehow forgotten Brynn was still there amidst her confusion in the last thirty seconds. She turned back to look at her just as Regan reached them, standing right against Emma, their bare arms touching.

“You must be Brynn,” Regan assessed, still with that large grin. She offered her hand, which Brynn took and shook it firmly.

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