Page 101 of The Life We Left Behind

“Hey! I thought you were going to be late.”

“Yeah. But then I decided to just ignore the man-baby who was sulking about not getting to play Pokémon and leave so I could hang out with the fun people.” Emma raised her beer, and we all chinked our bottles together before taking a drink and laughing.

“Aww, poor Flynn. I didn’t realize he was looking forward to it.”

“He dusted off his ten-year-old Pokémon cards that have apparently been living in our attic and has them spread all over our dining table while he ‘considered his battle strategy.’”

Emma gave me a look that said she completely blamed me for the Pokémon situation, and I resisted the urge to laugh at how ridiculous it all was.

“We can set up a play date for next week if you want,” Blake added, bursting out laughing and making it impossible not to join in.

“This is Blake, by the way,” I said, realizing that I hadn’t introduced the two of them.

“By the way!” scoffed Blake in outrage, making Emma fall back on the bench, laughing. “What am I, the charity case you wheel out for sympathy every so often?”

“As you can see, she does have a tendency to be a bit dramatic, but apart from that, she’s an amazing friend,” I said, completely ignoring her.

Blake grabbed her beer off the table, huffing in fake outrage. “You better believe I’m an amazing friend. I put up with this after all.”

She grinned as she took a drink of her beer, and I quickly poked her in the ribs, making her cough and nearly spray Emma with beer.

“We met the other day at Books and Beans,” Emma told me between giggles.

“Yeah, I was holding interviews for a new best friend,” Blake quipped, slapping my hands away from her.

“Like you’d ever be able to walk away from me,” I said, leaning a head on her shoulder, which Blake refused to acknowledge.

“You’re right. I like Cade too much to abandon him. He’s my real best friend.”

“He’s nine. That’s not a good thing.”

“You’re just jealous because he likes me more than you.”

There were times when I could believe that was true. I wasn’t always popular when I had to play the mom card, but at least it wasn’t something I ever had to do often with him.

“Cade likes everyone. Well, apart from Regina. But I’m hoping he never has to meet her.”

“Oh, I saw your harpy-in-law today,” Emma cut in.

“I knew I liked you,” Blake quipped before making a go-on motion to Emma.

“She came into the flower shop to complain aboutthe efficacy of the lilacs. I don’t even know what that means. I’m not even sure she knew what she meant. Either way, pointing out that it wasn’t lilac season, and we did not, therefore, have any to be efficient or not, was not the best move on my part.”

“Oh, I can see exactly how well she took you pointing that out.”

“Yeah, I swear her shrieking reached a pitch where it became completely inaudible, and I’m pretty sure I had an out-of-body experience.” Emma shuddered dramatically.

“Is it weird that I kind of want to meet her properly?” Blake asked. “It’s not often that you get to talk to the devil, and I feel like it’s an experience I need to have in life. You know, for my art.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Emma warned her before downing half her beer.

How had Regina gotten away with behaving like she did for so long?

I looked around the bar, which was surprisingly busy for a Thursday night. There were a few people in here that I recognized and more than a few that I didn’t. My eye caught Ethan sitting at the bar, who raised his beer in acknowledgment, and I awkwardly waved at him, not knowing what to really do. His amused smile had me flushing in embarrassment and turning back to Blake and Emma who were looking at me strangely.

“What?”

“Have you always been this awkward?” Blake asked. “I’ve genuinely never noticed before.”

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