Page 73 of Five Dates Between Friends

MACK

I roundedthe corner onto Grand and heard my name ring out. Once. Twice. I wondered if it could be another Mack, I certainly wasn’t the only one, but then—

“Mackenzie! Are you ignoring me!?” Harley called and I spotted her, curls contained under a bright yellow beanie and wrapped up from knee to neck in a black and white houndstooth jacket. I jogged across the street at her wildly beckoning hand.

“Not ignoring, Harley,” I assured her, bumping my knuckles against her fist.

“I should hope not,” she quipped, pointing to the bubblegum-pink haired woman beside her. “This is Odette, Jemma’s assistant.” We shook hands.

“Hey, good to meet you.”

“O, this is Mackenzie.”

“Just Mack, actually,” I corrected. Harley shook her head like I was a child she often humored and I wondered where the hell that kind of unflappable confidence came from. Perhaps it went along with her presence that took up space and drew you in until you found yourself in her orbit without quite meaning to be there.

“Nice to meet you,” Odette said, her smile crinkling the corners of her steely eyes.

“How’s everything?” I cleared my throat. “How’s Jemma?” I didn’t get to know her all that well before the wedding and things turned to shit between her and Nash, but what I did know of her I liked. And I was still hoping Harley was right about them working things out.

“Good, busy.”

“What are you doing?” Harley asked, diffusing the ripple of awkwardness. “We’re about to meet Hunter for lunch at Dodos, you want to join?”

“That’s cool, I don’t want to crash.”

“You’re not crashing, I just invited you, also I have something important to discuss.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, you’ll just have to come to lunch and find out, won’t you.” She hooked her arms through mine and Odette’s. “Come on.”

We walked a couple of blocks, with Harley chatting away about nothing in particular, before we came to a hole in the wall place that smelled incredible. Hunter jogged around the corner a second later, his face split in a grin.

‘Hey man, didn’t know you’d be here, too.” We clasped hands and bumped shoulders before he pulled Harley into a hug.

“You remember Odette?”

“Sure do, hey.”

“We picked Mack up along the way. Come on, I am craving kimchi and barbeque pork,” Harley said, leading the way inside. The rest of us were given no choice but to follow.

Halfway through lunch I made a mental note to bring Chase back here because it was outstanding. There was barely enough room for the ten tables inside and you couldn't move your chair without bumping into someone—but the food and the service were incredible.

“So,” Harley started as she finished her mouthful. “I need a pie.”

“Oh-kay,” I said, taking a sip of water and waiting for more information.

“I need one ofyourpies,” she clarified and I waited for the rest of the question but that appeared to be it.

“Did you have one in mind?”

“I'm glad you asked, because yes, preferably the chocolate espresso. Although, honestly, I’ll take whatever you are willing to give me. Obviously I’ll pay you both for the pie and your silence.”

“My silence?”

“I need to pass it off as my own.”

Hunter laughed. Harley didn’t look the least bit repentant.

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