Page 60 of The Valentine's Bet

Friends or not,thisis why women are so freaking difficult.

“How’s Britt doing?”

“What?”

Amy shakes her head at me. “I was asking about your sister. How is she? She said she’d be staying with you for a while. Is she still living with you?”

“Oh, yeah.” I nod. “She’s good. She found a place, actually. So she’s moving out tomorrow. And as much as I love my sister, I’m ready for her to leave. I’ve missed having my own space over the past two weeks. She makes a mess of everything.”

She pauses. “So, where do you live again?”

“NoHo,” I answer, just as my phone vibrates.

Her mouth drops open. “NoHo?! I thought you said you lived near me!”

Oh, shoot. I completely forgot about that.

“I do...”

“No, you don’t,” she says, exasperated. “That means you went in the completeoppositedirection that night you walked me home.”

I shrug, feeling caught. “I like walking.”

She narrows her eyes. “That’s it?”

Swallowing hard, I rack my brain.Why did I walk her home?“I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to make sure you got home safe. You were brand new to New York City and—”

“And you felt sorry for me.” Her voice drops. “Gosh, that’s so embarrassing.”

“I never said that.”

“It’s fine,” Amy mutters, her shoulders slumping for a moment—but then she perks up. “You know, it’s exactly three weeks until my birthday ... and Valentine’s Day. That’s still enough time to win the bet.”

I lean back in the booth. “Yeah? Well, I’ll tell you right now, I still think you’re gonna lose—even with this fancy questionnaire setup you’ve found.”

She laughs. “You can think that all you want, but I’m not giving up.”

“I don’t expect you to give up.” I smile when her eyes light up. The waitress comes by and sets our food down in front of us, and I pluck a French fry up, popping it into my mouth. “So ... are you an only child?”

Amy purses her lips. “Yeah. My parents tried for a baby after me for years, but it never happened.”

“Ah, but I bet you’re spoiled,” I tease, ignoring my phone as it continues to go off. I silence it. It’s lunchtime, and there’s no reason to take work calls right now.

“Kind of. Maybe in some ways I was,” Amy begins, her expression thoughtful as she picks up a fry of her own. “They didn’t have a lotof money. It wasn’t until I was in high school that my dad got a big promotion. That really changed things for my parents.”

“Did his promotion ever make things tense at home?” I don’t know why I’m so curious about it, but the pictures ... they just seem too good to be true.

“Not really. I mean, everyone fights. My parents fought, but I don’t remember what it was about—and they rarely argued in front of me. They’ve been together for almost thirty-seven years.”

My stomach knots up. “That’s a long time to put up with someone.”

“They just kept choosing to love each other.”

“I’m sure there were moments they didn’t.” My words sound more bitter than intended.

But maybe that’s because I’mbitter.Considering my parents wereneverable to resolve their differences, we’re all still suffering the consequences today.

Amy makes a face. “Maybe. But then they chose to forgive each other. I don’t think it’s all that complicated to make something last. You just have to keep choosing each other, no matter how you feel.”

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