Page 55 of The Fiance Dilemma

MATTHEW:Yes, she can.

MATTHEW:Boss me around, @BabyBlue

CAMERON:We’re fine. And I’m really leaving if you don’t stop that. I’m still pissed.

My face fell. Together with my stomach that had just dropped to my feet. A message immediately popped up in Matthew’s chat.

MATTHEW:He’s fine. He’s just being Cam. He’s not mad at you, and he shouldn’t have said that.

JOSIE:It’s okay.

It really was. And I deserved that. I was lying to them, after all. We were. I couldn’t pretend like everything was fine and we were two couples texting in a group chat. Matthew and I weren’t really one.

MATTHEW:Where are you?

JOSIE:At the Vasquezes’.

MATTHEW:Why are you already there? It’s not even ten in the morning. Is that why Maurice opened Josie’s today?

JOSIE:Grandpa Moe opens for me when I can’t. I won’t be here all day. I was taking care of last-minute stuff for the midnight market. We have it handled.

MATTHEW:We?

JOSIE:The special events and parades committee. It’s still a town event.

MATTHEW:I’m calling you. Don’t let it ring and then text. Pick up.

My eyes widened. Wait, what? He was—

My phone rang.

With a puff of air, I brought it to my ear. “Yes, dear?”

“I thought I was clear last night.”

I suppressed a smile. “You’re not the only one with excellent selective hearing,yaknow.”

He huffed out a surprised laugh. “Why am I not with you? Jog my memory.”

His words made my stomach flip-flop. But they were just that, words. “I dunno,” I said. “The laws of physics? Time? Space? It was something about all of it being relative, and depending on who you ask. But I can’t be sure.”

There was a pause, then an “I’m coming over.”

My chest filled with crazy, stupid butterflies. “Almost everything is done.”

“Then I’ll keep you company. Bring you snacks. Don’t make me beg, Baby Blue. Because I will.”

Baby Blue.The flutter multiplied, pulling at all the strings tangled around my heart. I considered what to say. How to say it. Whether I should be stubborn and say no, or naïve and believe none of this meant a single thing. But then something occurred to me. Maybe Matthew was lonely. A rug had been swept out from under his feet and he was in a new place. Alone. And I’d been so set on what we were doing, and on bothering him as little as I could, that I’d overlooked that.

“I could use anything fuzzy and fruity.” I jumped off the bench. “No blueberry though.”

“You got it.” His voice was happy, and that made me feel… good. Like I wanted more. “What else?”

“Maybe something sweet?”

“All right.”

“And something savory too. A pretzel would be nice; it’s today’s special at Josie’s.”

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