Page 72 of The Last Dance

‘Her boss demanded the Dangerous story yesterday. He gave her an ultimatum. Either write the story and keep her job or protect whoever she was protecting and lose her job.’

‘Shechoseto be fired to protectme?’ I rub my forehead. I can’t believe she’d do that. ‘I suppose she hates me even more now?’

Ben and Claire both laugh.

‘What?’

‘It’s your lucky day. She challenged that asshole boss of hers with a head-to-head of PDX Weekly against her very own website. You know anyone that might be able to help a beautiful heartbroken woman with a website that could blow that dickweed out of the water?’ Ben stares over at me.

‘Does she even want my help?’

‘Ithink she does,’ Claire says with a small smile. ‘But her asking isn’t going to come easily. You might need to volunteer.’

‘I’ll do whatever she wants whenever she’s ready.’

‘Aw. Ben, pay attention. You’re not all gushing with me anymore. I’m gonna need some of this,’ Claire says to Ben, who only rolls his eyes.

‘Yeah, thanks a lot for coming back around, Henry,’ he bursts out before letting out an irritated laugh.

‘Remember when I was here last?’ Claire takes over the conversation again. I can see her definitely being the disciplinarian if these two ever have kids. She’s good at it.

‘How could I forget?’

‘I asked you if you still had feelings for her and you said you didn’t know. I have a feeling your answer may have changed.’

I sigh, standing from my desk and walking around it, sitting in the chair next to her. If I’m going to become someone who doesn’t keep secrets from the people who mean the most to me, I have to start doing the right thing withallmy friends.

‘You’re right. You’re both right.’ I look over at Ben, who is now making himself comfortable at my desk, scrolling through the website on my screen. ‘I know exactly how I feel about Ambri. I just don’t know how to fix this. She’s moved on, she’s moving in with Noah. I’m doing my best to show her who I was. Who I stillam, but she’s stubborn. She also has every reason to choose him over me.’ I sigh nervously. ‘She doesn’thaveto let me in again.’

‘You’re right.’ Claire leans forward in her chair. ‘But, that said, you’re in. You’re not in very far, though, so you’ve got a lot of work to do, but I know she’s starting to see the you she fell in love with. It’s written all over her face every time you’re mentioned. If you really love her, you’re gonna have to fight for her.’

‘I think he’s one step ahead of us, baby.’ Ben picks up the paper I’ve been scribbling a list on. Making lists is something Ambri taught me to do a long time ago. I have ridiculous lists of things I’ll never do or need all over my office, my computer, even my phone.

‘Somehow I knew you would be.’ Claire stands, patting my shoulder as she walks by. ‘I wanted to hate you for her, Henry.’

‘Recreating the last few days you had with her? Not a bad idea,’ Ben says, nodding as he reads through it.

‘I do what I can.’ I laugh. ‘Does this mean I’m officially forgiven?’

‘You’re forgiven. Don’t fuck it up again.’ She stops in the doorway. ‘Come on, Ben.’ She waves Ben towards her. ‘Oh, and the names on the coffee cup thing… that was a nice touch. You’re starting to resemble the Henry I once knew.’

I laugh. The fact that Ambri told Claire about it says it stuck with her enough to get her thinking. The names on the cups was a last-minute decision I knew I had to do the moment I saw her sitting there all alone in the place where I used to sit with her. Those mornings were always the best part of my day. I can’t believe she still does it without me. That one hurt. It reminded me of how bad I messed up.

When the barista asked for the names I asked if I could write them on the cups. She looked at me like I was nuts, but she handed them and a Sharpie over to me. The moment Ambri noticed hers was when she finally sawmethrough everything she’s made me out to be in her head. She saw the guy who never would have let her down. The guy even I lost for a while. When she saw mine, I saw her bite her lip. She can’t keep how she feels about me buried away forever.

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