Page 26 of Tattered Edges

Sawyer smiled at his friend, but then looked back at Rory for final confirmation. Irritated as he was at Graham for backing him into a corner, the only answer he could offer wasyes. It would have been rude otherwise.

“Match starts at half past five,” he muttered. “Don’t be late.”

As she began to smile, he walked to the opposite end of the bar to check on his other customers.

Twentyminuteslater,whenRory noticed Sawyer’s glass was dry and her olives were gone, he finally made his return. When he asked if she wanted another and she declined, he was relieved.

“Are you sure?” Graham pressed. “I’m still buying.”

“No. Thank you. I should get going. I need to put something in my stomach other than gin. I’ll see you tomorrow, though. Five-thirty.” She paused and looked to Rory. “Promise I won’t be late.”

“Was very lovely to meet you. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

She stepped down from her chair and was slipping into her coat as she replied, “You, too, Graham. I hope Maya really does enjoy the wine.” With a wave at both of them, she bid them farewell and finally took her leave.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Rory glared at his friend and stated, “I can’t believe you invited her to my flat.”

Graham, not at all intimidated by his mate’s scowl, pulled a face himself. “I can’t believe you didn’t. Have you seen her?” he asked in utter disbelief.

“I’m not blind.”

“Right—so you’re just stupid. Seriously, man. She’s both gorgeous and brilliant. Not to mention a Manchester United fan. It’s like you ordered her custom or something.”

“Oh, sod off, mate. It doesn’t matter. Have you forgotten why she’s here? I don’t want her to stay. I hope the novelty of life in London wears off so she’ll sell the place next door, and I’ll finally have the chance to expand my business the way I want to.”

“Why? So you can spend even more time working?” Graham scoffed. “Come off it! You don’t need a reason to turn into a complete workaholic—you need to get laid. And I aim to help you with that.You’re welcome.”

Rory waved the man off then reached for his empty glass in order to replace it with a full one.

He didn’t bother mentioning how he’d already had his opportunity to bed the American.

An opportunity he’d declined.

Sawyer

AssoonasIwoke up Saturday morning, I crawled off the couch and started brewing a serving of coffee. Much to my delight, my father had left a very fancy SMEG coffee machine, which had quickly become my favorite inherited appliance. I hadn’t taken the time to figure out how to set it to begin brewing automatically each morning, but Ihadfigured out how to make a single cup as opposed to an entire pot.

No sooner had the machine begun to do its thing than I was initiating a call to Diane. We’d been exchanging a volley of texts at random hours of the day for nearly a week. Neither of us willing to go another day without a proper chat, we agreed this time would work best for both of us.

It was just after seven o’clock my time, which made it a few minutes after eleven at night her time. I was literally calling into yesterday. While I usually wasn’t conversation-ready first thing in the morning, no shower, makeup, or fresh breath was required for a video chat with my best friend.

“Oh, my gosh,hi!” she answered almost immediately.

Like me, she was dressed for bed. Face washed and hair up, I watched as she made her way out of her and Brady’s bedroom, headed for the living room.

“Hey,” I replied, chuckling groggily.

“Brady was trying to stay awake, but his week has been wild, so he dozed off a few minutes ago. He says hi, though.”

“Tell him I say hi back.”

Curling up in the corner of her familiar couch, Diane grinned and said, “I’ve been looking forward to this all day. I want to heareverything. I want to see your apartment, I want to hear more about your evil half siblings, tell me how your first week on the job has been—seriously, I don’t care what time it is, I’m here for all of it.”

Laughing, I started for the stairs and replied, “Let me give you the tour real quick, then I’ll doctor my coffee and start from the beginning.”

After I showed her around, assuring her I’d send pictures once I was fully settled, I grabbed my coffee and nestled under my blanket on the couch.

“Does it feel weird? Being there with his things?”

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