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For the people whose attention, care, and light remind us how lucky we are to call them friends. This one is for Emily.
FOR EMILY 😍🖤
I’d really tried to be on time that morning—set an alarm and everything. It just…didn’t work out.
MOOD
Luck wasn’t real—good things didn’t just happen to people, at least not people like us.
“Oh, you’re right. That really could be something. I guess the landscaping stopped with his eyebrows.”
LMAO
“Guys who send unsolicited dick pics can still care about politics.” Marcus’s voice was as even as ever; he was always the more responsible and even-keeled of Emi’s two roommates. “Given the state of the country, I think it’s obvious those guys still vote.”
HONESTLY
Mine. The voice in my head was startling. I didn’t think about possessing women, let alone strangers, and I wasn’t someone who was taken in by a pretty smile and a tempting body, but the voice persisted. I want her.
“Which one is best?” “Which donut is worth millions of dollars?” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Not sure we’ve got anything like that.” “No. Which donut, when paired with two hundred and fifty million dollars, will help me avoid finding a meaningful career and forget all about men? Bonus points if that donut could also go to my sister’s wedding with me.”
That’s not even flirting at that point it’s a proposition
I watched his expression turn from “I’m curious” to “I just drank expired milk” in a matter of moments. “You could have warned me it was a dick pic.” He turned the phone over and slid it across the counter, his arm grazing my thigh and pausing centimeters from my leg. “I wanted you to get the full experience.” “I definitely didn’t need that experience.”
LMAO 💀😂
“My sister thinks I’m sad that I can’t find a nice, reliable guy to love, but at this point I’d be happy with a nice guy to fuck me up against a wall with the fervor and gusto I deserve.”
“You promised.” “You got a donut. I want a treat, too.”
🥵
“That girl couldn’t find good luck or good sense at a luck-and-sense sidewalk sale.”
“Tell us more about the woman who left the ticket.” “Um, she has curly hair, big brown eyes, and she was really…” He looked to the side again. “She had a great smile. She smiled a lot, and it was the kind of smile that made you…you know, made you want to smile, too. Like a sunny day. She made the shop feel brighter. She’s beautiful. I think that’s the best way to describe her. Really…beautiful. She said she was a lucky person, and I guess she was right. So, if you know a Sybil who fits that description…please have her come back to see me.”
MY HEART
What he said made what we shared seem like the start of an epic love story and not just an epic orgasm.
“It will be great doing business with you,” I said, releasing his hand and holding up the lottery ticket with my handwritten note for him to see. “Just don’t go falling in love with me along the way.” “Believe me,” he said, hand on the doorknob. “Everything about the situation makes me certain that won’t happen.”
HAH liar
“Devil?” Sybil placed her index fingers on either side of her head and curled them into horns. “Who told?”
Oh that was the cringiest thing I think I’ve ever read
I smoothed my fingertips over the skirt of my dress and remembered how his hands felt on me when there was a spark versus the grip of his hand when I wanted to wring his neck for being a judgmental jerk.
lol
“I’ve never believed in sparks,” he said, squeezing my hand back. “But it’s hard to ignore how you feel about someone like her. And, yeah, there was a spark.”
🥹
“I learn more about her every day,” he said. “Like that she likes running.” Running late, running from thing to thing, running out. I squeezed his hand again, hard. “He’s so perceptive,” I said, wishing I had a quicker response.
LMAO he’s such an ass I love him
“We love a good love story, and this one has a million reasons for you to keep an eye on this couple. Stop into Joe’s Donuts on Grand Avenue in the East Village to experience a little of this sweetness for yourself.”
Oh I don’t like that
In fifteen minutes, I’d gone from wanting to mow this man down with my car to wanting to pull him into my arms. I wondered if he felt anything close to that, too.
👀
No one was watching, but I still lifted her hand to my lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles, because I lost my grasp on what I should do whenever I was in her orbit. “I am very much looking forward to breaking up with you, Sybil.”
No you’re not you liar
I was learning I was safer being annoyed with Sybil than enamored of her, and I kept bringing myself back to that as we worked.
Because you liiiiiikkkkkeee her 😍😩
Sybil: Alarm is set. Sybil: See you in the morning. Sybil: My thumb hovered over the message, touching the screen the way I wanted to touch her.
🤭
I navigated to the menu, toying with the idea of sending one back, of sending something that might make her smile in that way that made her dimple pop on her cheek. I selected the same icon she’d used and typed Sweet dreams, beautiful. “What am I doing?” I held down the delete key until the regrettable reply was gone.
KIERAN NO
“That might be too many donuts for a princess warrior—how would you carry them all and fight the bad guys?” The little girl nodded sagely. “Lady, I am the bad guy.” This girl was my hero.
What a queen 😂 I love this kid
“Are you going to fight me?” Kieran asked her, handing the box to the two women. “Nah. You seem all right,” she said with a wave to Kieran. “But don’t forget, sometimes beautiful princesses are dangerous.” He nodded and looked at me dramatically. “Believe me, I know.”
MY HEART
I studied the muscles across his back as he moved, and latched on to what felt like honesty in his words. Maybe he wasn’t intentionally grumpy and shadowy, but just unsure how to be bright.
“You did seem a little stiff.” He chuckled to himself, finally looking away from the window and at me. “Sybil, I think you’re planning on making a joke about me being stiff, and I’m begging you not to.” “Okay,” I said as I flipped my blinker to turn down his street. “But you’re making it really hard,” I tossed back, risking a glance at his face and being rewarded with his set expression unfolding into a laugh. “Glad we could avoid that sticky situation,” he said. “Kieran, you made a dick joke.” I said a prayer that I wouldn’t have to parallel park as we neared the building. “And it was a
...more
Omg I love him 😂
“It just takes a while for me to feel comfortable with someone. I can’t do casual intimacy, at least not convincingly.”
“You know, you don’t always have to have a dirty joke at the ready. For the record, there are lots of reasons people like you.” I inhaled the scent of her hair product as we moved in tandem. “I’m sure I’m not the only one who sees that.” “You like me?”
Kieran my grumpy boy I love you
“But there are a lot of reasons to like you. You’re really creative and you think about possibilities. Like the direct marketing to local businesses—that’s a really good idea. You don’t always have to be the comic relief is what I mean.” She was quiet, going back to her work. “You really think so?” “Yeah,” I said. “I do.”
MY HEART
“All’s fair in love and donuts.”
“The donut man.”
LMAO
“I’m falling in love with your daughter. I’m falling in love with her more and more every day, and I don’t want her money or anything other than to make her smile and to get to be next to her when she does something truly amazing.” He looked into my eyes, and my knees felt weak. “Because I know she will.” My heart jumped into my chest, and I’d never wanted a lie to be true so much in my life.
Ahem they’re totally true you just don’t know it yet
“I think it’s the other way around, ma’am. She’s the best person to come into my life, maybe ever,” I replied, and though I might have thought to say that while pretending, I said it because I meant it.
“I didn’t know you were paying attention when I did those things,” I said. “I was.” He darted his eyes to me, lingering on my face for a moment before looking away. “I always pay attention to you.”
I. Am. A. Puddle. 😭 GAH WTF
“It’s supposed to rain tonight,” he added. “Figure out your wish yet?” “You want me to hurry up so we can go?” “No.” Kieran’s hands still slid up and down my arm. “I don’t need to be anywhere else.”
I love them 😭😭😭
“Kiss me again,” I said. “Just because you want to. Just for tonight.”
🥵
He dropped another peck on my jaw, but instead of moving to my lips, he stepped back, sliding his hand from my hair but still grazing two fingers along the hem of my skirt. “I really want to lose control with you, but I know too many good stories about you,” he said, taking another step back, the distance between us allowing the wind to cut through the gap. “I think it’s too late for meaningless and one night.”
Why is he such a good man 😭😭😭
He was right—it was too late for meaningless. I didn’t need the next story in my family’s arsenal to be about how I fell for the guy I was paying to date me.
“Your high school girlfriend was waving at us from over there,” she said, flashing a smile at Erin. Sybil was right, and I gave Erin a wave. I guess we were back to pretending, though I didn’t mind, because this particular pretending felt a little like Sybil being jealous.
Because she iiisssss
My mind was always swimming with what came next and how to get back on track, but somehow, with her here with me, the only thing I was overwhelmed with was her and how much every minute I spent with Sybil made me consider scrapping all my old plans in favor of new ones that included her.
OMFG
“Maybe this isn’t real, but you’re real. You’re real to me. And if I can do something to help, I’m going to do it.”
GAH
“If this were real, I would tell you it’s because you’re so…lovable.” I’d known I loved her the moment she walked into the shop upset.
My fucking heart
“If they say no, I’ll try to bribe them with these donuts.” With a woman who tasted like sugar and honey and was choosing me, I was pretty sure luck would be on my side.
