“Is it?” I whispered.
“It will be.”
“I just told my mom to get out of my apartment.”
“You were justified,” he reminded me.
“I know,” I whispered. “But I hate it.”
“That seems reasonable. You probably wouldn’t be human if you didn’t hate what had just happened with your mom.”
“I just…had to stand up for myself.” I pulled back and looked into his eyes. “I couldn’t keep letting her stomp around in my life so carelessly.”
“You did the right thing. She crossed the line and was unrepentant.”
“I didn’t like how she’d talked about you either.”
He stroked my hair back. “I don’t care what she says about me. I’ve heard it all before. I know that I don’t belong here with a girl like you.”
“Hey, don’t say that. That’s dumb.”
“You’re so far out of my league that it’s not even funny,” he said with a self-deprecating laugh.
“You are not.”
“Lark, you are an Upper East Side princess. I’m a nobody from nowhere, who used to do construction. It’s okay for me to admit that. I’m not ashamed. But I’m not giving you up because of any of it. I still love you.”
I hiccuped, and a small smile came to my face. “I love you too.”
He cupped my jaw and drew me into a kiss. “Now, are you really going to be okay?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I feel like the ball is kind of in her court. But I know my mom. She’s not going to try to make amends. She’s going to try to pretend like it didn’t happen until I give in and make up with her.”
“Just give it time. You don’t have to do anything about it today.”
“I don’t need this right now. Not with the primary so close and Thomas’s fucking casino party.”
“Hey, don’t add stress if you don’t have to,” he said. “We don’t have to go to Thomas’s party.”
I arched an eyebrow. “And miss you taking him for all he’s worth? I don’t think so.”
He laughed. “We’ll see how it goes. But really, if it makes you uncomfortable, we could just have a night in.”
“No, I think I’d like a night out with our group. I miss having them all together. It was like having a new crew in the Hamptons.”
“It was nice to feel like I belong.”
I smiled. “This is where you belong.”
He pulled me up off of the floor and into a hug. “Yes. Yes, it is.”
31
Lark
“You really told her to give you the key back and to get out?” English asked with wide eyes. “And that you were no longer her daughter? Holy shit!”
I laughed softly and shrugged. “Yeah, I was enraged. To put it mildly.”
“Jesus Christ! I can’t imagine going off like that. I’m not close with my parents, but still!”
“Yeah. I don’t know what to do about it. I’m still angry. I just need more time to calm down before I can talk to her again.”
“Well, I definitely think this will get your mind off of it,” English said as the elevator opened onto the top floor of my apartment building.
“What exactly am I looking at?” I asked her.
English grinned. “This is it.”
I stared back at her blankly.
“This is the apartment that Josh and I just closed on!”
“What?” I gushed. “It’s so close to my place! Only a few floors up!”
“I know! He knew that I loved your building so much and that I wanted to be close to you, so he bought the penthouse.”
“That’s insane. I didn’t even know it was for sale.”
She shook her head with a sly grin. “It wasn’t. He contacted the people who were living here and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
“Holy shit! That had to have cost a fortune!”
“He said nothing was too much for me.”
“God, how did you get so lucky?” I asked as I gazed around the gorgeous and enormous penthouse suite. It was full of natural light, and I could so easily see English being happy here.
“I really have no idea,” she gushed. “But I’m so excited to move in. He bought me a ticket to London to come out to the shoot this weekend. And it’s been so long since I’ve seen him that I’ve decided to go.”
“Oh,” I said, my face falling. “This weekend is Thomas’s party.”
“Yeah, I figure it’ll be fine to send Court. Especially since all of you will be there to watch him.”
“Sure. I can watch him. I’ll just miss you.”
“I know. I wanted to go with you all, but it’s been so long.”
“And you want to get laid,” I said with a laugh. “I get it.”
“I mean…you’re not wrong.”
“Gah, I’m having second thoughts about this party. I think it’d be hilarious to see Sam hustle them all at poker, but am I putting myself in a bad position, bringing my ex-boyfriend and current boyfriend together in the same place?”
English put her hand on my shoulder. “It’s a reasonable thing to be worried about. But this is Sam we’re talking about. It’s not like he’s going to go rogue boyfriend on you and punch Thomas or anything. I hate to admit I was wrong, but I think Sam is really good for you.”
I flushed. “Thanks, English. That means a lot.”
“So, just go to this party and have a good time. What could go wrong?”
“Aside from everything?”
She laughed. “Well, I will happily be in a sex coma during it. So, I will be MIA.”
“I’m happy for you,” I told her with a smile. “This apartment. You’ll have Josh back soon. The job. I’m so glad that you took it so that we could be in the same city again.”
“Me too. Best decision of my life.”
We hugged like eccentric best friends, and then she dragged me around every single room to show it all off.
Having the most brilliant day on set. So good to be back in Josh’s arms. Don’t forget to keep your eyes on Court tonight. I’ll follow up in the morning. And remember to have fun! I love you!
I groaned as I read English’s text. I’d been so bogged down in work that I hadn’t seen her message until she was probably already asleep. I hated that Josh was stealing her away for a week. I’d gotten used to having her here in New York. And I really didn’t know what I’d do come November when she had to move back to LA. Hopefully, we could work it out, so she could stay.
“All good here, boss,” Aspen said, stepping into my office. “Have a good time tonight with Sam.”
My head whipped up. “What?”
Aspen froze. “I mean…you are with Sam, right?”
My stomach churned. “That’s not…I mean, we’re not—”
“Hey, I’m happy for you,” she said, holding up her hands.