Page 60 of Calculated Chaos

“Absolutely.” Hooking her arm through mine. “Come on. Let’s go day drink.”

We walk outside and the magnitude of what I just did hits me. My knees buckle and I grab Sara’s arm to keep from stumbling.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

Smiling, I nod. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

Sara smiles. “You did. You stood up to the biggest bully ever. I’m so proud of you.”

“I have to call Ax. You don’t mind if he joins us, do you?”

“I wouldn’t expect otherwise.”

The two of us continue down the sidewalk while I dig my phone out and call Axel.

“Hey, babe,” Axel answers. The endearment causes my belly to do a happy flip.

“Hey. Are you busy?”

He laughs. “Nah. What’s up?”

“Sara and I are headed to Janson’s to day drink. Care to join us?”

Sara giggles as she loops her arm through mine.

“Day drink? What’s going on, Holl?”

“I’d rather tell you in person. Can you meet us?”

“You bet. I’ll be there in twenty. Order a mimosa for me.”

“I will.”

After ending the call, I blow out a breath. “I feel so damn free right now.”

“You are.”

We make it to Janson’s, an all-day breakfast place, which I’m very grateful for right now. We’re led to a corner booth where we sit and peruse the menu, but nothing is sinking in. I’m brimming with excitement and shock.

Then a thought hits me. “Uh, Sara. I should probably tell you that um, me and Axel are… Well, we’ve decided to… I suppose it happened the night of my birthday. It was unexpected and I’ve never… you know… with a man but Axel is different and…” I stop myself from babbling and stumbling over my words. “We’re together.”

Sara grins. “About damn time.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was obvious to me that you’ve been in love with him at least since I met you.”

“What?” I sputter. “No. We were just best friends.”

“Right. Except that your face lit up like Christmas Day whenever you talked about him.”

“It did?”

“Yep.” She glances down at her hands for a second. “Okay, confession time. When I first met you, I had a crush on you.”

My jaw drops. “That doesn’t make any sense, Sara. Me? I don’t seem like your type.”

She laughs softly. “You’re not, but I think that’s what attracted me. You’re so smart and kind. Dedicated. You treat the team well. I thought I actually had a shot because you were just so sweet to me.” She glances around the restaurant before settling her gaze on me again. “Until the day Axel came up to visit you. The way you responded to him, the way you looked at him, I knew no one had a shot with you. Axel already had you.”

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