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“You and Bree both can! This drink is more than big enough to share.” I laughed as I quickly put the picture of the drink into a message and sent it to Mason. “Thank you for this insane drink. I still have no idea exactly what it is, but it’s delicious.”

“Wow! It looks very fancy! The bartender I spoke to assured me it was good.” I had just finished reading his message when a second one came through. “I’m going to let you enjoy the rest of your night. Have a good time and be safe. We can talk later about meeting in person.”

The flutters were back in my chest as I reread his message and typed out my response. “Thank you, Mason. You’re pretty incredible. I’m grateful Susan gave you the wrong number.” I slipped my phone into my wristlet and turned to my girls. “Let’s finish this drink and hit the dance floor!” Bree and Sarah cheered.

It wasn’t until much later, when we finally got home and I was getting ready for bed, that I looked at my phone again and saw Mason had sent me one last message. “I’ve said this before, but she gave me the right number, Anna. Your number was the one I was supposed to get.”

Chapter 15

Shit or Get off the Pot

IT HAD BEEN A little over a week since the night I’d gone dancing and Mason bought me the drink.

Everything remained the same. I didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Liam and I continued to spend time with each other. There were moments I thought there might be some spark, but they were few and far between. I was beginning to wonder if I was trying to force something that wasn’t actually there.

Mason and I continued to talk daily. He hadn’t brought up the topic of us meeting in person since the night at the club and, honestly, I was happy to avoid the conversation.

It was one of those rare evenings where Bree, Sarah, and I were all home early and none of us had any plans for the evening. “I’m starving. Should we make some dinner?” Bree asked from where she was sprawled out on the sofa.

“Yes!” Sarah agreed enthusiastically. “We haven’t cooked together in ages. I did some shopping earlier and have the stuff to make tacos. They’ll be quick and easy.”

“That sounds fantastic.” I was always up for tacos. “Good thing you went shopping today!” I laughed. We all had full schedules, which rarely left opportunities for us to cook together. Plus, none of us really liked to go grocery shopping, so it was a happy coincidence that Sarah had gone and purchased stuff for us to eat together.

I was getting ready to stand up from my spot on the floor when I swore I saw Sarah flash Bree a look. It happened so quickly, that before I could decipher it, the moment was over and Bree jumped off the sofa. “Yeah, good thing. I’m going to cook up the meat and you two can start chopping the vegetables.” Bree and Sarah both turned and quickly walked into the kitchen. They were being a little weird, but whatever.

It wasn’t too long before we had everything ready and were sitting down at the table to eat. “This is so good,” Bree said between mouthfuls of food. “It’s nice to hang out with you ladies. It’s been way too long since we’ve done this.”

“Agreed,” Sarah said with a smile. There was a brief pause before she continued. “Soooooo…what’s new with you, Anna?”

It suddenly got so quiet you could’ve heard a pin drop. I quickly shoved a taco in my mouth and took a bite. Something felt very weird about the whole situation.

Bree let out a loud sigh. “That wasn’t very smooth or subtle, Sarah.”

“Sorry! I thought it would be weird to just jump right out there with a point-blank question,” Sarah huffed.

Both Bree and Sarah turned to look at me and realization started to slowly wash over me. They wouldn’t…

“We want to talk about you,” Bree blurted out.

“Specifically about you, Mason, and Liam,” Sarah quickly added.

...but they did. I inhaled a slow, deep breath. “The fact you’re both here tonight and we made dinner is not a coincidence, is it? You guys planned this to have a talk with me, didn’t you?” Bree and Sarah exchanged a look with each other but remained silent. “You did,” I continued, taking their silence as an admission. “If you wanted to talk, you realize you could’ve just told me. You didn’t have to sneak around and arrange some big secret dinner.” I threw my napkin down on the table and scooted my chair back as I jumped up from my seat. I was pissed. It felt like they’d been talking about me behind my back and I didn’t like it.

“Wait! Don’t go!” Sarah quickly shouted. “You’re right. We’re sorry. We just wanted to talk to you, and it feels like you’ve been avoiding this conversation for weeks.”

Bree scooted her plate away from her as she rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Listen, Anna. You can’t keep going on with things like this. It’s not fair to anyone and someone is going to get hurt. We just don’t want it to be you.”

I stood by the table for a moment as Sarah and Bree’s words soaked in. Deep down I knew they were right. I’d been avoiding the conversation for way too long, and things couldn’t just continue like they were. I closed my eyes and plopped myself back down in the chair. I slowly scooted back to the table. I took a few deep breaths before I opened my eyes. “Let’s talk.”

“Here’s how I suggest the topics go: relationship status of Liam with pros and cons, then relationship status of Mason with pros and cons. Once we have that, then we help Anna come to some type of decision about what happens next.” Sarah smiled and seemed very satisfied with her conversation agenda.

Bree just snorted. “You and your structured conversations are so strange.”

“It is always good to have an outline as to where you’re going. That way you stay on track and get everything accomplished.” Sarah crossed her arms over her chest.

“Maybe in your weird, pre-law world, but normal people don’t do things that way,” Bree retorted.

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