Page 28 of A Hard Habit to Break

The door cracked open anyway, and Benji’s meticulously styled blond waves peeked through. “Honey, if you’re going to have a breakdown and you’re already in bandages, at least have it in a space with decent lighting. This fluorescent nightmare is washing you out something terrible.”

Rachel disagreed with Petey’s mayoral mansion, but the town hall needed a Beverly Hills facelift. The small colorful tiles, a signature of the late 1980s design styles, gave the entire space a shabby-chic vibe.

Despite herself, Rachel snorted. “Did you seriously follow me into the bathroom?”

“Family restroom,” Benji corrected, slipping inside and locking the door behind him. “Gender-neutral territory. Besides, you just saved your ex from public execution. Someone needs to document this historic moment.” He waved his phone, displaying the Instagram reel he’d already posted. The caption read:When your bestie swoops in like Superwoman to rescue her hometown redevelopment project and… a hot firefighter. #Architect #RachelJDesigns #HometownShero #Gamechanger

“Take. That. Down.” Rachel lunged for the phone, butBenji danced away with the grace of someone who’d spent his formative years avoiding high school bullies.

“Can’t,” he cooed. “It’s already got three hundred and sixty-seven likes, including one from Ms. Begatta’s personal assistant.” Benji tucked his phone safely into his back pocket. “But that’s not why I’m here. I saw your face when you bolted. That wasn’t yourI just crushed itstride. That was yourI need to hide because I just screwed upwalk.”

Rachel resumed her pacing, this time with more vigor. The last thing needed was her boss discovering she’d volunteered to work on a design project under the guise of a vacation. “Did you see what happened out there? Did you see what I did?”

“Um, yeah. You were magnificent. Total lady boss energy. Noah looked at you like you’d personally hung the moon and stars, and the escape ladder he so desperately needed.”

“Exactly!” Rachel threw her hands up. “I promised myself. No, Isworeto myself that I wouldn’t get sucked back into Noah Calvary’s orbit. Two weeks, Benji. I’m here for two weeks for my father’s wedding. In less than forty-eight hours, I’ve already fallen right back into my old habits.”

Benji hoisted himself onto the counter, legs dangling. “Which habit is that? Being competent? Having good ideas? Preventing a small-town catastrophe?”

“Being Noah’s cheerleader.” The words burst out of her with such force that they seemed to echo off the bathroom tiles. “His number-one fan safety net. Hissave him from himselfemergency number. I spent years in high school being the girl behind the guy—being his shadow, studying for his exams and mine, making excuses around the farm so I could show up for his big game or a family event.”

“And look where that got you—a town that welcomes you, a full scholarship, and an office, soon to be a corner office, at one of the most prestigious architectural firms in San Diego.”

Rachel shot him a withering look. “That’s not the point, and you know it.”

“Then what is the point, FriendFriend? Because from where I’m sitting, you saw someone drowning and threw them a life preserver. Didn’t matter what happened in the past. That’s just being a decent human.”

“The point is—” Rachel stopped, suddenly deflating like a punctured balloon. She slumped against the wall, her head resting against it. “The point is, I promised myself I’d never be that girl again.” The one holding on too tightly. The one who craved his attention. “The one who runs to rescue Noah.”

“Rachel, you’re not a man-centered woman who has to have a guy on her arm to feel complete. You’re a kickass heroine like in a Wednesday Knight book.”

“Not those books again.” Benji and #readersofInstagram were obsessed with the monster romance series. “Just let me be a brat.”

Benji lowered his feet to the ground to move beside her, wincing as his designer jeans made contact with the questionably clean wall tiles. “It’s hard to be witchy when you have such a big heart, Rachel.”

A watery laugh escaped her. “I don’t want to have a big heart. I want to be bitter and resentful and completely anti–anything him.”

“Oh, FriendFriend.” Benji nudged her shoulder with his own. “For what it’s worth, you are very good at being petty when you want to be. Noah better not get on your bad side because you will absolutely staple gun his ass to hot asphalt.”

“I’m not that bad.”

“Not that bad?” Benji’s eyebrows shot toward his hairline. “Do I need to remind you about Dominico from drafting? The man used the last of your salad dressing on his baked potatoonce.You’re still mashing his spuds for that minor infraction.”

Rachel’s lips twitched. “He used my imported white trufflevinaigrette on apotato, Benji. A potato! Do you know how much that stuff costs?”

“Yes, because you’ve told me approximately seventeen times,” Benji grinned. “My point is, you’re perfectly capable of being petty when the situation calls for it. But this?” He gestured vaguely toward the door. “This wasn’t you falling back into old habits. This was you being the badass professional you’ve become. The fact that it happened to benefit Noah is just—collateral competence.”

“You don’t understand,” she lamented. “The moment I stood up in that meeting, I felt seventeen again. Heart racing, palms sweating, thinking only about how I could help Noah shine.”

“From where I sat, you were thinking about how to help the town. Noah just happened to be the beneficiary of your brilliance.” Benji pulled out his phone and scrolled through his recent photos. “Look at this.”

He held up a picture from the town hall meeting. In it, Rachel stood tall at the microphone, her expression confident but compassionate as she addressed the crowd. Noah was in the foreground; his eyes fixed on her with an expression that wasn’t just gratitude—it was awe.

“This isn’t the face of a man looking at his personal cheerleader,” Benji said softly. “This is the face of a man who’s seeing you, maybe for the first time.”

Rachel stared at the photo, her throat suddenly tight. “It doesn’t matter.” She’d told Noah as much last night. “In two weeks, I’ll be back in Cali. He’ll be here, and nothing will have changed.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Benji locked his phone and tucked it away. “But whatever happens, you’re not that seventeen-year-old girl anymore. You’re not dropping everything for a boy. You stepped up, not in, because you have something valuable to offer your town.”