Chapter 3

Time is a strange thing. It could take someone like Nicole McKenna, who once had eyes for no one but me, and slowly nudge me right out of her mind.

And it turned out I could change too. I used to get anxious and jealous over the smallest thing; now I could scroll past her photos of some cheerful getaway with another man without feeling a thing.

It was for the best, really. With her gone more, I could get on with moving out that much easier.

We'd lived in that apartment together for a few years, and I had more belongings than I realized, so packing took some doing. My own place needed a good cleaning before I could move back in, too.

The day after I moved back home, I got a message from Nicole.

Nicole: [Dinner at Sterling House tonight. I'll pick you up after work.]

I typed back: [Let's break up. I won't be coming.]

Then, I turned off my screen.

Except when I got off work, there she was, waiting by the curb downstairs.

Nicole came over and took my bag from me. "I had a get-together with Paige Morgan and the others today. They all said it's been ages since they've seen you."

I frowned, and just then a coworker messaged me. When I opened my phone, I realized the text I'd sent Nicole that morning had never actually gone through due to some kind of connection issue.

Well. Might as well treat this as our last dinner together.

I opened the passenger door and found a note taped to the seatback: "Freddy's Seat," in big, unmissable letters.

An old memory surfaced, unbidden. I'd once joked about doing the same thing myself, taping a note to the back of the passenger seat, and Nicole had shut me down instantly, scolding me with a straight face. "You're a grown man, and you want to do something that childish? And it's not even your car. Don't be so full of yourself."

Enough time had passed that it didn't sting anymore, but I still remembered exactly how humiliated I'd felt in that moment. Now I understood, on a whole new level, what people meant when they said love, or the lack of it, was never hard to spot.

A hand reached past me and tore the note down.

"Freddy just taped it there as a joke. He didn't mean anything by it."

I came back to myself and realized, with some surprise, that Nicole was actually explaining herself to me.

I made a small sound of acknowledgment and got in the car anyway.

At the restaurant, once we reached the private dining room, I found Freddy there too, along with Nicole's usual group of friends.

Nicole jumped in before I could ask. "Freddy's been living alone out in Mozel City. I didn't want him getting lonely, so I invited him along."

I made another small sound and took whatever open seat I could find. It wasn't like this was the first time, anyway.

I kept my head down and ate while Freddy, as always, fell right in with Nicole's friends. Nicole kept glancing my way at first, but between Freddy and her friends pulling her into the conversation, she warmed up and started chatting along with everyone else soon enough.

Out of nowhere, Freddy laughed and said, "Nicole, could you crack this crab for me? Get it, crack the case?"

Nicole laughed. "Ugh, that's a dollar in the pun jar for you."

She rolled up her sleeves and got to work on the crab. Freddy yelped, then stuck his tongue out at me. "No offense meant, Scott. Nicole and I are just used to doing this."

I picked up a rib. "It's fine. I don't mind."

Freddy nudged Nicole. "You should peel one for Scott too, or he'll get mad at you."

Which one of his eyes had seen me getting mad, exactly?

Nicole glanced at me, then smiled at Freddy. "But I've only got two hands. I have to take care of you first."

Then, to me, she said, "Freddy's still young. Just let him have this one. If you want some, I'll peel it for you when we get home."

"Sure. Fine," I said.

Get home and peel it for me? Wasn't I the one who used to peel crab for her?