Page 41 of Finally Loved

The two had been friends a long time, but Neve hated confrontation. She’d also been beating herself up over how long it was taking her to get around to the conversation.

Alba thought through her reply more than she could ever remember thinking through a text in her life.If you need to break things down and only tackle one at a time, that’s okay. It’s perfectly acceptable to just tell her you can choose your own friends, you know?

Is it?

It is. I promise

Alba wished they were talking about this in person. It was so much easier to believe someone when they were right in front of you, demonstrating how much they believed the words they were saying. And, while it seemed, perhaps, a little odd that Neve trusted Alba to discuss these things with when she couldn’t tell her best friend, it wasn’t all that surprising. Alba’s friendship with Neve wasn’t built on pretenses. Not that her friendship with Charlie was, either, but the two of them had a whole history and long-established dynamic Neve was trying to fight through and adjust.

What if she hates me?

Alba stared at Neve’s message, her secret fears, spoken aloud for just the two of them. Alba didn’t underestimate the gift of it.

But that didn’t help her reply.

Generally, Alba’s approach was that if someone couldn’t accept the changes and growth you needed, they weren’t worth having around. However, she also knew that her approach and Neve’s were likely polar opposites. And she knew all of Neve’shesitancy and fear grew from not wanting to lose her friend. Alba thought she deserved better from her friends than needing to have the conversation in the first place, let alone working to mitigate Charlie’s response to it.

She’s not going to hate you. You’ve been friends for a really long time now. You live together. You know each other. At most, it will be a tiny bump to overcome as your relationship adapts to your needs, but that’s okay!

Alba was determined to be a good friend to Neve, even as she worked through her crush, but, even so, all she could think was that she wanted to hug her. It wasn’t romantic, necessarily. It was just the need to be there for someone she cared for.

She just knew she didn’t usually care quitethismuch.

That was wiser than I was expecting!

Alba laughed out loud.Should I be insulted?

No! I didn’t mean it like that, just that it was very wise! And helpful.

Yeah? I’m glad. And, while I am sure it will go well, I’m here no matter what happens!

She knew Neve was looking at her phone, but it took a while for her to reply. Alba could picture the way she must have been chewing her lower lip to within an inch of its life, the way her free hand must be worrying the edge of her shirt.

The reply came eventually.Wish me luck!

Call me after!

Zainab stepped out of the changing room as if on cue, and her entire demeanor switched upon catching sight of Alba. She rolled her eyes. “God. You’re in deep.”

Alba shot her a look, considering making a sarcastic comment. “How so?”

Zainab sat on the bench beside her, two items draped over her arm. “Look, I’m glad you’ve admitted you have a crush onNeve, but do you want to talk about allthis?” She gestured to Alba.

“Are you insulting my look?” Alba glanced down at herself. “If you’ll remember correctly, you dragged me here straight from work basically.”

She rolled her eyes again. “Not this time.”

“Well, at least that.” Alba slipped her phone back into her pocket, hoping Neve would call her later and that the news would be good.

“You’re going to get hurt, and I’m worried about you.”

“Here? I doubt it. What do you think is going to happen? Shirt-related incidents are common, are they?”

“Alba.”

“Zainab.”

She sighed heavily. “Can you just be serious for one minute?”

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