Page 31 of Beginnings By the Sea

His words made me smile. “I’m usually the wise one in the group, not you.”

Luke snorted. “Then act like it. Text Nyla.”

I grabbed my phone off the coffee table and quickly glanced at the time. It was a little past seven which hopefully meant she wasn’t at work yet.

Me: Good morning.

Noah walked into the living room, his face just as red as Luke’s, only he had white circles around his eyes where his sunglasses were. He plopped down on the opposite side of the couch from Luke.

“What’s up? What are we doing today?”

Luke gestured to me with a mischievous grin on his face. “We’re salvaging our best friend’s love life.” He winked over at Noah. “I told him to text Nyla.”

Noah’s face lit up. “See if she has any single friends while you’re at it.”

I shook my head. “You live in Boston, dumb ass. I don’t want you hooking up with one of Nyla’s friends when you’re about to leave.”

His gaze narrowed. “What about you? You don’t live around here, either. How will that work if you and Nyla decide to work things out?”

Luke and Noah stared at me, their curious gazes never leaving mine. That was a good question, and one I had an answer to, but my phone beeped before I could answer them.

Nyla: Good morning.

I typed out a quick reply.

Me: What are you doing after work? Are you going to be with a certain someone else?

A wave of jealousy flooded through me as I imagined all the ways she could be spending her evening with him. My phone beeped, and I closed my eyes, my heart pounding with anticipation.

When I opened my eyes, I read the text.

Nyla: Actually, no. He’s out of town and won’t be back until tomorrow night.

“What is she saying?” Luke asked, waving his hands impatiently for me to tell him.

I let out a relieved sigh. “Turns out the other guy’s out of town until tomorrow.”

Noah jumped to his feet. “This is your time to go for it then! Invite her over tonight. We can order pizza like old times.”

Luke chuckled and nodded in agreement. “Do it! Maybe Nyla needs a blast from the past to remember how much fun we all used to have.”

And we did.

When Nyla was in college, she was serious about her studies but still carefree. Seeing the way she is now reminds me of those times.

“Here we go,” I said, texting her back.

Me: Do you want to come over to the house and hang out with me and the guys? It’ll be like old times.

Her reply came instantly.

Nyla: Sounds like fun. I’ll be there.

I texted her the address to the rental house then set my phone down on the coffee table, and sat in the brown leather seat across from Luke and Noah.

“Are you nervous?” Luke asked, his dark blue eyes studying me closely.

Blowing out a heavy sigh, I leaned my head back against the chair and rubbed my chest where the ache had been settling for weeks.

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