“No, I know you wouldn’t.” She smiles. “I just felt compelled to offer.”
“I don’t want you to feel compelled to do anything, Lore.” I take a step toward her, not caring that Hattie and Posey are right there as well. “I thought I made that clear when we were together. I’m here for you. You’re the only person I’d get on a plane for because I couldn’t stand the thought of denying you anything, so stop feeling like you need to appease me.”
“Okay.” She smiles at me, warm and sweet, then stands and circles the couch to hug me tight. “I’m really happy that you’re the guy who knocked me up, Mikey.”
I can’t help but laugh, and Lauren grins that sassy grin.
I turn to Posey and Hattie. “Are you two staying the night?”, They nod. “Good, I don’t want Lauren to be alone.”
“Are you okay?” Lauren asks tentatively, and I plaster on a wide smile, grazing her cheek with my thumb.
“I’ll talk to you in the morning, Rockstar.” I lean down and kiss the top of her head. “Call me if you need anything, okay?”
“I promise.” Her gaze follows me out, drilling into my back, and I’m aware that she sees right through me. She knows that my bullshit smile dropped the second I walked out the door and that on the inside, I’m falling apart.
* * *
Lauren
“He’s taking this well,” Hattie observes, eyes still on the door as if Michael will walk back through any second.
“He most definitely isn’t,” I correct, fingers grazing the silky strands on my forehead. “That was the fakest smile in the world of fake smiles.”
“You know he’s in love with you, right?” Posey asks, and I snort, shaking my head.
“It’s more complicated than that.”
“No, it isn’t.” Posey makes a big show of trying to stare me down with a stern gaze in her milky blues, but it takes about five seconds of my bored leer to make it clear it isn’t working, and she huffs while pushing her dark brown ponytail off her shoulder, her silky hair glimmering deep red in the sunshine coming in from the skylight. “What’s so complicated, then?”
“It doesn’t matter. It just is,” I state, signaling the end of the conversation, and Posey grumbles under her breath.
Hattie leans over me and asks Posey, “What would have happened if you would have fallen in love with a boy from the wrong side of the tracks back when you were still rich?”
Posey shrugs. “I’d like to believe it wouldn’t matter.” She straightens her back and dusts off her perfectly clean dress before groaning under our incredulous glares. “Fine, I guess therecanbe complications even when you’re in love.”
“To be young and naïve. Oh, how Ido notmiss that,” Hattie declares, and I fervently agree.
“What are you going to do with S.A.S.S.?” Posey wonders, whether to change the subject or just because isn’t clear, but it’s a fair question considering we had a plan.
“Same, just in Boston,” I answer. “And I’m going to need a lot of help, more than before, so, what do you say, Pose, feel like an adventure?”
Posey’s face lights up at my offer. “I’ve always dreamt of living on the East Coast. I was supposed to go to NYU before…” She trails off, sadness invading her eyes. “Anyway, my mom and brother seem to have found their footing, they don’t need me as hands-on as before, so it’s time I start living for myself again, right?”
“Yay!” I bounce in my seat and hug Posey before turning to Hattie, raising a questioning eyebrow.
“Don’t give me that look.” She waves a finger in my face.
“I’m not going to stop asking,” I warn her with a grin.
“Yeah, I know, and you’re wearing me down.” She lets out a long sigh.
“I get it. It’s a big and scary step.” I pat her hand, my grin widening. “Though, in all honesty, there’s more chance you’ll bump into Zane again on the East Coast.”
“That’s your pitch?” Hattie blinks at me. “An unattainable billionaire that I may or may not meet again, and that my interest in him is purely professional?”
“I’ll pay you more than Joanna does and give you shares.”
“Now, that’s more like it.” Hattie slaps my knee.