Page 107 of Don't Think

I look down quickly, tucking my hair behind my ears. “Yeah… we did.”

“Girl,” she says flatly, and my heart sinks.

My eyes flick up to hers—and that’s when I see it: the start of a genuine smile.

“That’s the number one rule of fuck buddies.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Wait, so you and Gareth?”

“No!” she exclaims. “Absolutely not. Just strictly fun.”

Why does that for some reason make me feel worse?

Nora’s mid-bite when syrup drips from her French toast, pooling on the plate beneath her. She holds the fork up to her mouth, then lowers it to look at me.

“I’m sorry for what I said. About all of it. I don’t have an excuse, I was just hurt,” she says sincerely.

I give her a small smile and reach across the table with my heart cracking in two. When her hand meets mine, I give it a light squeeze.

“I’m not going to say it’s okay because it wasn’t. But I do forgive you, and I hope you can forgive me for keeping this from you. It won’t happen again, I swear.”

She smiles, too, squeezing my hand back. “You better not,” she says quietly. “Now. We have some serious catching up to do. I needallthe details.” She quickly raises her finger, pointing at me. “And don’t you dare leave anything out.”

My eyes widen while I glance around the diner. “Here?” I whisper.

My gaze immediately lands on a sweet elderly couple nearby who definitely look like they’d clutch their pearls if I started talking about how Jax spit wine into my mouth the other night.

Nora laughs, pulling my attention back to her.

She shakes her head. “No, not here. I’m full. Andyoudidn’t even order anything, like a total psychopath. We can go back to the house if you want,” she says, wiping the corner of her mouth with a napkin.

My smile is wide, and I nod. “I’d love that.”

My nerves evaporate, like they were never even there. I’d been so worked up the lastfourdays, convinced we’d cause some kind of scene in this diner—for nothing. This probably wouldn’t have spiraled the way it did if I had just stopped making excuses andlistened. Really listened to her instead of trying so hard to be heard.

I guess now I can check “Life Lesson” off the bucket list.

After paying the outrageous bill, we slide into the car, and Nora’s hand flies straight to the radio. She puts on Backstreet Boys, and just like that, we’re back to our usual karaoke car session like nothing ever happened.

And that’s how it should be. Friends fight. We’re human, and sometimes we take things too far. But it’s what you doafterthat really matters.

“Oh my god, you have no idea how much I missed this. Gareth never lets me touch the radio.” She groans, throwing her head back against the seat.

I scrunch my nose. “Now I’m kind of wondering what Jax would do if I tried,” I say with a laugh.

“Well, now you have to try it,” she replies while I turn out of the parking lot.

We ease through the city with the windows down, serenading half of Boston like we’re the ones on tour. Not even pausing our session at red lights, drawing all kinds of judgmental looks, but we don’t let it stop us.

Nora and I share a glance, then scream the lyrics to “I Want It That Way” in perfect, off-key tune. A horn blares behind us, and when I look up, I realize the light’s already green.

I wave an apology out the window and laugh before I press my foot to the gas, the car lurching forward.

We don’t even make it fully into the intersection before I hear—

Screeching tires.

Horns blaring.