Page 58 of The Forbidden Wolf

Charlie’s head whipped toward me. “Is that why your mascara was running when you came through the doors?”

“Yes,” I lied, and then immediately felt guilty, so I added, “Also I hated the end of Little Women.”

“What?” She squinted at me like I was crazy. “Why?”

“Laurie and Amy?” I looked at her like she was crazy. “Come on. He was meant for Jo.”

Charlie’s shoulders slumped dramatically, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh, you sweet summer child. We are going to talk about this at length when you don’t have an emergency to handle.” She gave a dismissive wave. “Go. But call me. I’m sure Mr. Bucks here can afford to replace your phone.”

Sebastian nodded quickly. “Right away. Yes. Anything she wants.”

Evan pulled his own perpetually cracked phone from his pocket, and said, “I think Elyse wants me to have a new phone too, yeah?”

“Oh, yeah,” Jayla said, pulling out hers, which was perfectly fine if a few models outdated. “She was just telling me last week how much I needed a new one.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Yes, alright, everyone gets matching solid gold phones with their initials engraved on them. But now we really must be going.”

I smiled. The kind that hurt my cheeks after so much crying. I tried to wipe it off before anyone else saw, but Jayla made her know-it-all face and whispered, “Oh. Why didn’t you just say so?”

A red-hot blush swept across my cheeks and onto my ears. I threw an arm around either of their necks so I wouldn’t have to look at Evan and Jayla looking at each other like they had my number. They both squeezed me tight and then parted, gesturing melodramatically toward Sebastian like he was not only the prince but the horse-drawn carriage. Speaking of…

“Where’s the car?” I asked as Charlie pulled me into a side hug.

“Not due back for another thirty minutes,” Sebastian said. “We should just take the subway. It will be fastest.”

My stomach immediately twisted in a knot. “Well, what about the other car?”

He tilted his head. “What other car?”

“The one you came in?”

“Oh.” He shook his head. “No. I took the subway with the pu—the kids.”

“Kids?!” Charlie tugged me closer.

“Not his,” I said quickly. “The teenagers who work here.”

“Yes. They will close up.” Sebastian nodded toward the green railing at the west end of the block. The one I’d jumped over last week. “We should hurry. I think I hear one coming.”

Charlie’s eyes widened, and the speed at which I looked away must have confirmed her suspicion because my own sensitives ears could hear her pulse speed up. I wrapped my arms around her neck and murmured, “It’s okay. I’m okay. I promise.”

“Wait.” She pushed me back and peered at Sebastian. “Those aren’t your kids, but do you have kids?”

Sebastian smiled. “No. Not yet.”

Charlie’s lips pressed into a thin angry line. “You know, we were going to grab a slice before the show, but I’m suddenly remembering how much I love riding the subway.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Amy March is one of if not the most misunderstood characters in all of classic literature,” Charlie insisted as the 6 train slithered down its tunnel beneath Manhattan. “But Gerwig and Pugh, they totally get her. It’s so refreshing. Like, how do you not want her to end up with Laurie?”

“Because Jo is in love with Laurie?” I clutched my gurgling stomach where—swear to Halo—it felt like all those popcorn kernels were re-popping. I hated everything about the subway. The shakiness. The filthiness. The undergroundiness. All of it. At least we’d scored a train with blue seats. If it had been an orange-and-yellow, I’d have barfed for sure.

Charlie shook her head, exasperated. “Elyse. Where are you getting that? Especially in this version? It’s not there!”

“She says so!” It came out way more like a moan than I’d intended. “She writes him the letter!”

“She doesn’t mean it though. She’s just afraid of being alone.” Charlie shot a look at Sebastian sitting quietly at the other end of the bench, ankle on knee. He’d lost a lot of points with her for his shameless manspreading. “She really doesn’t want to marry. Just like Louisa May Alcott herself.”

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