As soon as Lucy slid into the passenger seat, she went for the aux cord. She settled in like she hadn't been M.I.A for months. She borrowed one of my baseball tees that she tied up to sit above her jean shorts and I could get used to seeing her in my clothes. 

"Please for the love of God, no Taylor Swift," I moan as I start the car. She smirks at me and says, "You're gonna love her new stuff." 

I glance to her before pulling out of the driveway and say, "I've already heard it. On the way back from Scottsdale." She eyes me so I add, "You left your playlist running. I'll admit I liked it, but if I am going to have to go to Target, I draw the line at Taylor Swift. All of her albums." I watch her pout but I don't give in. I then catch a hint of a smirk playing on her lips and wonder what she is up to. Moments later, a loud drumbeat and fiddle start up and I shake my head. 

"I forgot how much I hated country music," I tell her and she laughs. 

"Sorry, I got rid of all your crap music after you yelled at me. Not a single Drake or Kanye song is on any of my playlists anymore."

"Why did you take your anger for me out on your poor ears? They don't deserve that lack of diversity in your music selection." 

"I'm pretty sure they were grateful to never have to listen to Hotline Bling again," she replies with a glance in my direction. 

"But you tortured them with sappy Taylor songs, didn't you?"

"No, I introduced them to Olivia Rodrigo. She came into my life at a special time," she says and I pull onto the street that leads us to our favorite breakfast spot just outside of downtown. 

"Oh lord, is she like Adele sad? I can just picture you with your headphones in, sobbing to heartbreak songs, being so dramatic after you dumped Blake, is that how it went?" I ask her, realizing she hasn't said much about the time she was gone. 

"I was angry. Not sad. But you bet your ass I was screaming Should Have Said No like ninety percent of my drive from New York to Arizona."

"What were you screaming for the other ten percent?" 

"I was sobbing to Adele," she says and then a melancholy yet poppy song comes through my speakers. My guess is one of the songs Lucy sobbed to. As I listen to the lyrics, I realize whoever this is is perfect for Lucy, dramatic and poppy. I can totally see her beating these songs to death as she mourned her relationship. 

As I pull into Snooze's parking lot, I ask, "Have you kept in touch with him since you left? Or did you just cut it off?"

"We arranged to have some of my stuff shipped back and he tried apologizing a couple of times for how it ended but, I basically shut him out. I have nothing to say to him nor do I want anything from him," she answers while pushing her door open. "Ashleigh told me last night that Blake hit on her when they ran into each other at a club. Right before we got engaged." I snap my wide eyes over to her and she nods, "What a mother fucker."

"Why is she just now telling you?"

"Blake told her I'd get her fired and would go all psycho on her. Then I left a few weeks later, so it didn't matter," she confesses.

"No wonder she got weird when Maggie told her you were coming back." I grab her hand when I meet her next to my car and I can tell she's surprised at the gesture. "I know you wanted to keep things on the DL for the time being, so if we see anyone we know, I'll drop your hand and run," I say as we walk hand and hand up to the front door.  

"What a gentleman," she jokes back to me, but she doesn't drop my hand. It's weird to be holding her hand, with everything out in the open. I didn't know how I'd feel dating lucy, what she'd be like as a girlfriend. She always seemed laid back with Blake, but I also know how much of her feelings she hid from him. She was always so worried that if she said the wrong thing, or felt the wrong way, he'd leave her. It wasn't healthy and I know her second-guessing everything she did also drove Stella nuts.

I wonder how Stella is going to feel about us together. If Lucy has already told her. She probably called her first thing this morning. I am aware that if I take on Lucy, she's a package deal with Stella. 

This place is packed with late brunchers, but the hostess is a friend of Hannah's who knows us from the bar, so she gets us right in. We were only out in public together for three minutes before we ran into someone we knew.  

Once we are seated in our bouncy vinyl booth, surrounded by noisy eaters, she orders two spicy bloody Mary's with extra olives. I think one is for me until she looks at me and asks, "Do you want one too?" I laugh and she winks at me. Once the waitress saunters away we stare across the booth at each other. We are both suppressing smiles and it's going to be hard to keep whatever this is quiet at work. I already want to touch her and keep some part of her in my hands. 

"Okay so, I'll let you talk to your parents before we go public. But I want to know how you want to play this at work?" 

She leans back against the vinyl seat and then says, "Yeah, I don't think I want anyone at work to know yet." 

"I was kinda thinking the same thing. And before your brain goes into overdrive, it's only because Missy was real weird with me last night, and I just kinda want to wait until after spring break when she leaves to announce anything."

"Weird? Weird how?"

"I denied there was anything with me and Maggie and she kinda got sassy. Like I slighted her sister," I tell her but I am still worried how Lucy is digesting the whole Maggie thing. She goes to peruse her menu and her eyes are looking over the pancake flavors as she asks, "What does Missy think happened?" 

"I honestly don't know. I think she's under the impression that Maggie was wanting to hook up. But I talked to Maggie, and we're all good." She's now engrossed in the menu but I watch her jaw clench. She never takes this long to look over the menu because she always orders the pancake flight. She's biding time, so I start looking over my menu. Our drinks stuffed with bacon and olives are dropped and she takes a long swig before asking, "So, Maggie just kissed you at one of her parties, she tried to take things further, you said no and now Missy thinks you slighted her sister?" 

I snap my eyes to her and reply, "I don't know if Missy thinks that. I just got a weird vibe from her last night. I'd prefer not to have drama at work especially while we are slammed." The waitress interrupts us and I order the avocado toast and she orders the pancake flight, just like I knew she would. She hands off our menus and then drops her mouth onto her straw. Her big eyes scan the table and then find mine, watching her suck down her vodka. 

"Lucy, do you have any other questions about Maggie? Or about how we want to play this at work? You said you were also down to keep our hands to ourselves." 

"Yeah, the girls love to talk. Whether it's good or bad, they can't help themselves. I just don't want to be talked about or have the pressure," she says before popping an olive into her mouth.

"Well I have a question about Maggie regarding something that I heard from Ariana," I start and Lucy gazes at me but doesn't interrupt. "Were you going to ask me to be your date to a wedding that was in Mexico a few years ago?" Her eyes squint as she thinks it over and then she slumps back against the booth. 

"How does Ariana even remember that?" She asks.

"So it's true?"

"Yeah, I was going to ask you. We were friends then, and I wanted to bring someone who would feel comfortable going to a destination wedding with me without the pressure. I talked to Maggie about it and I remember she was against it because she was worried you'd freak out. I can't fully remember our conversation, but yeah she talked me out of it and then I asked my friend Matty to go. He's gay, but I knew he'd be a blast and I didn't have to worry about the seriousness of bringing a man on a trip."

"Wow, I had no idea."

"Would you have gone?" She asks with a shrug. 

I shake my head, "I honestly don't know. I would have wanted to go to Mexico with you, but yeah to a wedding...I may have thought it was too serious of a thing for me. I really don't know."

"Maybe it is a good thing I didn't ask then."

"But you've been into me since then? You went to Mexico like, two years ago."

"Jack I have been into you since the first day I met you. I just stayed in my lane." She says as if she knew exactly where I wanted her. I want to kick my own ass for having my head up it for so long. 

My phone buzzes and I check my texts. I see I have a message from Kylie Davis and I realize there are going to be a number of women I have to stop talking to. A picture blasted on Instagram would be a lot easier to convey the message to half my contacts, but we're not quite there yet.

"Everything okay?" Lucy asks as I stuff my phone away and I nod, "Yeah, just a friend seeing if I was going to the lake today." 

"Shit did you have plans today? Did I totally railroad your day?" 

"No, you were gone for months. I want to be here with you." 

"And Fischer is in Boston, so your little boating buddy is gone?" She says with a smirk. 

"Yes, there's that. But mostly because I wanted to take you to Target today. It sounded way better than cruising around on the cold water. Way more fun than eating sandwiches and drinking beer on the barge." She laughs and I find her hand on the table. Her fingers slide into mine naturally like we've been doing this for years as she says, "As a thanks, I'm gonna let you go through the Dollar Spot at Target. You can pick anything you want. On me." 

"I've had my eye on those miniature chalkboards and this sign that said Bless This Mess, so it sounds like I am about to have all my Target dreams come true." 

"Are you going to hold my hand while we meander down all the aisles?" 

I nod, "Yep, I might even touch your ass. Possible boob graze in the wine aisle." 

She laughs and then squeezes my hand, "Well now I get why you turned down the lake day. You had a lot of fondling to do." I wink at her and I watch her blush. I can't think about fondling her or we're never going to stay celibate.  

Our food is dropped off and Lucy quickly orders another round. I think we're both jittery, and excited to see where this goes. She confesses that she hasn't talked to Stella yet and I cross my fingers that Stella is Team Jack. I already know Lucy tells Stella everything, so I am going to know very soon if she thinks us being together is a good idea. I know she thought Blake was a dingus, but she kept her opinions mostly to herself for Lucy's sake. But because I've known her for so long, and Lucy is still in a fragile spot, she might not be so polite. 

I pay for breakfast and I can tell Lucy is not so quick to accept my money. She tried to cover the tip but I refused. Blake was happy to let Lucy pay her own way, but I want to take care of her. I know she is strapped at the moment and I am fortunate to have wealthy and generous parents so money isn't on my mind like it is on hers. We'll see if she lets me pay for her Target trip, but I imagine we'll be arm wrestling at the credit card machine.