Page 143 of Suck My Puck

I nod as I process everything she’s said. And then a light bulb goes off in my head.

“Could I bea match?”

Sophie, Xander, Theo, and Del all look at me.

“Theoretically, yeah. You could,” Sophie says. “Statistically it’s pretty low though. You’re not a blood relative.”

“But could I get tested and see if I’m a match?”

Sophie nods. “Yeah. You absolutely could.”

“What would I need to do?” I ask her.

“It’s pretty quick and simple, you’d just do a cheek swab.”

Determination rockets through me. “I wanna do that.”

Sophie looks at me for a moment. “If you’re a match, donating bone barrow is a different story. It’s a surgical procedure. It’s straightforward and relatively quick, but recovery would be around a week, maybe two. There can be complications too. It’s rare, but not unheard of.”

“That’s fine. I’ll do it.”

Everyone stares at me.

After a second, Del nods. “I’ll do it too.”

“Yeah, me too,” Xander says.

“I’m in too,” Theo says.

Sophie smiles at us. “Okay. I’ll set it up.”

I tell her thanks, hoping against all odds that one of us is a match for Lucas.

Chapter 50

Bella

Iwalk through the Uptown neighborhood of Denver, holding Braden’s hand. Maizie trots ahead of us, pulling on her leash.

Braden chuckles and gives her a bit more slack. “She’s excited to see what could be your new coffee shop,” he says to me.

Butterflies swarm my tummy. “I am too.”

We pass a block of row houses adorned with cute Christmas decorations. An early morning dusting of snow covers the sidewalk, but it’s sunny now so all the snow in the street has melted. It’s two weeks until Christmas, but it feels like Christmas morning for me right now.

We cross the street and pass a crowded diner and a cool-looking brewery. We walk past and stop at an empty brick-front building on the edge of the block.

I stand at the front door and check the time on my phone. “We’re a little early. We beat the real estate agent.”

Braden smiles at me. “That’s okay. It’ll give us time to check out the outside.”

I take in the pretty weathered brick and the glass doorentrance. There’s a big window in the front where I can see the interior, which looks like it has nice wooden flooring. The logo from whatever business used to be here has been scraped off the window. Only flecks of white remain.

Maizie sniffs around the sidewalk in front and licks a small pile of snow.

“You like it?” Braden asks me.

I bite back a smile and nod. “Yeah, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up.”

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