To Sir, with Love

I lean back against the cushion, barely registering that the cab smells like garlic, or that traffic is surprisingly heavy for this late in the evening. I notice only that Sebastian Andrews doesn’t bother to glance at the cab as he walks away. That he’s just nudged me toward another man.

And that had he asked me a second question: Is it possible to love two people…

I think I’d have had no choice but to say yes.

Twenty-Four

“So, when you said you wanted to come see my progress on the renovation, what you really meant was you wanted to… mope and eat my cheese?” Lily asks, wrestling the cork out of a bottle of sauvignon blanc.

“You always have the best cheese,” I say around a mouthful of baguette topped with something creamy, slightly pungent, and probably very expensive.

“True, but that doesn’t explain the moping.”

“Not moping,” I say, picking up my sister’s water glass and drinking a gulp to wash down the dairy. “Thinking.”

“About?”

“Boys,” I say with a sigh.

“Talk,” she says, pouring me a very generous glass of wine and handing it over. “For someone who’s got a big gallery opening in a week, you’ve got puppy eyes.”

“Well. I like two guys, and neither likes me back.”

“Sebastian and the MysteryMate dude?” She picks up a piece of bread, carefully perusing her cheese options on the board.

“Yup.”

“Well, at that girls’ night, Keva and Robyn seemed pretty sure Sebastian was into you.”

“Sometimes I’ve thought so too,” I say, swirling my wine. “But we had dinner the other night. It felt almost datelike. But then at the end, he told me I should pursue the other guy.”

Lily winces.

“Right?” I say glumly. “It was a pretty clear establishment of the friend zone.”

“So are you going to pursue the other guy?”

I continue to swirl the wine. “I’m scared.”

“That he’s a serial killer?”

I roll my eyes. “That he’ll say no again.”

The second the words are out, I realize that’s not what I’m actually afraid of.

“What if he’s not who I think he is?” I ask my sister. “What if we meet, and there’s zero chemistry, and we have nothing to talk about, and I’m back to being completely single, with no prospects.”

What if I don’t feel with him what I did that day on the sidewalk with Sebastian?

Lily squeezes my knee reassuringly. “Then we’ll put on some Frank, sing ‘That’s Life,’ and keep looking.”

I smile. “I like that plan.”

“Me too.” She pokes my knee. “I’ve missed this. I miss you. I’m glad we’re back.”

“Same. Weird though, isn’t it? That shutting the doors to the store is what brought us all close again? You and I feel a little more us. And I’ve talked to Caleb more than I have in a year—did I tell you he’s coming to the gallery?

“Oh God,” I mutter after another thought. “Is this one more thing I have to be grateful to Sebastian Andrews for? Giving me my family back?”

She tilts her head. “You really like him, huh?”

“I do,” I admit. “And maybe had things been different… but they’re not different, so maybe… maybe Sebastian Andrews and I were meant to be friends?”

“Maybe,” she says with a shrug. “How’s that feel when you say it aloud?”

Inadequate.

I squeeze my eyes shut. “Is this my punishment for being so obsessed with Prince Charming for so long? When he finally comes along, I get two, and neither is interested?”

“Well, you don’t know that your MysteryMate isn’t. And actually…” She taps my knee again. “I’ve just had a thought. Maybe you don’t have to give up the fairy tale, just modernize it.”

I stuff the cheese wedge into my mouth. “Bigamy?”

“Funny. But no. Have you seen the new fairy tales coming out? There are still princesses and princes, but the princess isn’t sitting around waiting for a dude to shove her foot into a glass slipper. The new princesses are badass. They go after what they want—”

Lily’s impressive tirade is cut off by the sound of the front door opening. “Hey, Alec,” I call.

“Hey, Gracie,” he says, coming into the kitchen and dropping his briefcase onto the counter.

He goes immediately to Lily, setting his hands on her waist, and she grins up at him. I pause in the process of sipping my wine as I realize the tension between them over the past few months is nowhere to be seen. Instead, they look newly in love, like they can’t take their eyes off each other.

“How are we?” Alec asks her softly, brushing a kiss over her lips.

“Excellent, now that you’re home,” she says, kissing him back. And not just a peck either.

“Aaaaand, that’s my cue,” I say, hopping down and taking one last sip of sauvignon blanc before setting it aside. “But for what it’s worth, I’m really glad you guys are back.”

“Me too,” Lily says with a smile.

“Just curious, is there, like, a magic potion I can take to get me some of whatever fixed you two?”