Page 42 of The Last Love Story
We walk back down the hall and she points to the two closets—one for cleaning and house supplies, the other for linens.
She grabs sheets and blankets from the linen closet and we head back to the living room.
“I promise the couch is super comfy.”
“I believe you,” I say gently. The last thing I want is for her to feel awkward or uncomfortable about any of this.
“Okay, well, uh…” She sighs. “I feel gross. Okay if I shower?”
“As long as I get to shower after you.”
“Actually, you go first, and I’ll unpack while you do that. Just open the door from the bathroom to my bedroom when you’re done. And if you need to unpack anything, you can put it in the closet in the book room.”
“If you’re sure.”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“Thanks.”
She nods, and we stare at each other for a moment, then I squeeze her hand and aim for the shower.
I’min the kitchen warming up lasagna Papa Jackson left in the fridge when Jade walks in, hair wet and looking much more relaxed in an oversized tee and sexy little booty shorts.
I nod at her shirt. “Han Solo, huh?”
She looks down, then back up at me, biting her lip. “Yeah. I love the originalStar Warsmovies and he was my first crush.”
“Harrison Ford?”
She looks horrified by the thought. “No. Han Solo. Ageless fictional character. Harrison Ford is older than my dad.”
I chuckle at that and pull the plate of lasagna from the microwave.
“Not an age gap girl?”
“Not that big of one. Unless it’s a five-hundred-year-old fae, but I’m okay with that because they still look and act like a twenty-five to thirty-year-old and if they’re immortal or semi-immortal, that’s kind of their thirty.”
“Fair enough. Ready toeat?”
“So ready.”
The toaster oven goes off and she smiles happily. “He made garlic bread too?”
“Yep.”
Once we’ve filled our plates, we get settled on the couch, and as we do, both of our phones go off. And then go off several more times.
Right. I might’ve been a chaos gremlin again and created a group chat for the Baker Girls Book Club.
Jade looks at me questioningly as we both reach for our phones.
I open my texts and immediately laugh.
Kennedy: Is this the text where we finally get to yell at Jade?
Kennedy: Since I’m not as creepy as Justin and didn’t want to slide into her DMs.
Kennedy: Anyway… Jade… HOW DARE YOU?
