Page 29 of The Love Wager

“So you figured since your douchebag ex had broken your heart, you were going to spend the next year being miserable...?”

“Oh, my God, you’re missing the point on purpose. I used that shitty time to save more money and improve myself so I’d be ready to take on the world when my spring arrived.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Is this your spring?”

She tilted her head and squinted. “I think it might be.”

After that they decided to walk back to their cars. She told him about Ruthie and he didn’t believe her that someone could be so unique, and then she told him about her new apartment. When she told him where it was, he suggested they walk to it so they could check it out at night and make sure the neighborhood wasn’t shitty.

On the way there, he pointed at the Carson building and said, “That’s my old building.”

“For real?” Hallie looked up at the high rise that was like a historical monument in Omaha. “Fancy.”

“My roommate made a shit ton of money and let me move into his condo and pay next to nothing on rent, so I was basically a mooch.”

“I’ve always wanted to see the inside of the building. They used to light it up every Christmas, and I always wondered what it looked like up close.”

“Wanna go in?”

“What?”

“Come on.” He grabbed her hand and yanked her toward the entrance.

“Jack—”

“Just shut up and come on.” He walked right up to the keypad beside the door and pressed a button.

A second later, a voice came out of the speaker and said, “Yes?”

“Olivia, it’s Jack. Can I show Hallie your apartment?”

“Who’s Hallie?” the woman—Olivia—asked.

“Jack, come on,” Hallie whispered, feeling like an idiot all of a sudden.

“She’s the wedding bartender,” Jack said.

“Wait—your dating buddy?” Olivia asked, sounding surprised.

“Bingo.”

“Come on up.”

Hallie gave him side-eye as the door buzzed open. “Who is she and how does she know about me? Obsessed much?”

He gave her a tiny shove. “She’s my sister, Olivia, the one who got me on the app—that’s the only reason she knows.”

“So your sister is—”

“Married to my former roommate and best friend. You were at their wedding.”

“Ahh, she was the bride.” Hallie followed him into the building, and the early-twentieth-century structure did not disappoint. Everything was meticulously designed and maintained, so it was almost like stepping into a fancy building from the past.

“I miss this building,” Jack said, leaning against the wall after knocking on his sister’s door. “So quiet.”

After a few seconds, the door opened and his sister—whom Hallie remembered the minute she saw her—smiled warmly. “Well, hello. It’s so nice to see you when my brother’s date isn’t throwing wine in your face.”

Hallie smiled back. “Right?”

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