The Best Mistake - Cookie O'Gorman Page 0,66

see you there.”

“Hi Finn,” I said in surprise.

“I hear we won today,” he said. “Hope it was a good game.”

“Yeah, the team played great.”

“Awesome,” he said. “Hey Rose, you want me to take that bowl into the living room? I was heading that way anyway.”

“No, but thanks.” Rose smiled at him, and I thought I saw a blush rise on Finn’s cheeks. “I’ll take it in myself. Talk to you later, Honor.”

“Yeah, definitely,” I said as the two walked away. Charlie and I exchanged a significant glance while the others weren’t looking

“So, the game went well?” Emmy asked again. “I would’ve been there, but I have a project due Monday.”

“It did,” I said. “Your brothers killed it out there.”

“Well, of course, they did,” she said as if that was a given. “Is June there?”

I shook my head. “She went out for pizza with the team.”

Emmy nodded. “Naturally. Well, tell her hi for me when you get a chance. It was good talking to you.”

“You, too,” I said, and then it was just me and Charlie again.

Her eyes were bright, but she didn’t say anything, forcing me to ask the question.

“Sooo…” I said, making sure to keep my voice low, “are you going tell me what the heck Finn is doing there?”

Charlie glanced over her shoulder then back to me, smiling like a kid in a candy store. “Well, I can’t say for sure. Emmy decided on the BtVS marathon, ignoring my objections, and Rose found out she was off tonight, something about there being a water main break at the tattoo shop. But anyway, so Finn shows up all out of the blue, and he’s been throwing Rose these puppy-dog glances that she’s completely unaware of, of course.”

“Of course,” I said.

“It’s been that way all night.”

“Sounds like it would make a great reality show.”

“Oh please,” Charlie said. “Why watch other people living life instead of going and living it yourself? Speaking of which, tell me more about you and Archer. Have there been any new developments on that front? Besides the super cute picture. And remember, we’re best friends, so I’ll know if you’re lying.”

All of the thoughts I’d been having about Archer came tumbling out in a rush. I hadn’t realized just how much I’d needed to tell someone, not just anyone but my best friend, until that moment. Charlie was my person. It had been that way since we were little. I could always count on her to give me good advice.

“Tell me if I have this right,” she said after I was done. “You’re really into Archer, and you’ve admitted to yourself that you want him.”

“Very much,” I said.

“But you don’t think anything could happen between the two of you relationship-wise because you’re too different, he’s going places, you’re not, yada, yada, yada.”

I frowned at that but nodded.

“And this is a good thing you say since that means there’s less chance of you getting attached and then heartbroken because you already know he’ll leave?”

“That was my conclusion, yes.”

Charlie tilted her head.

“So, what do you think?” I asked.

“Honor…are you crazy?” she said. “Listen, I can’t tell you what to do here. That has to be your decision. But you have a soft-heart, my friend. There is no way you won’t get attached. If you ask me, you already are. And loathe as I am to have any kind of confidence in members of the opposite sex, Archer seems different. I’d say he’s at least half-way in love with you already.”

We talked some more, but Charlie wouldn’t see things my way. I kept telling her that if I expected it, the abandonment, then there was very little risk involved. But she kept saying how he might want something real and for me to be open to that etc. I put it down to that picture. It was just Archer’s idea of a joke, but it had addled her perception of things.

“Just don’t stand in the way of your own happiness,” she said before we hung up.

Afterward, I knocked out Chase’s story. It was much easier than Archer’s, took my mind off of things (at least for a while), and I needed the distraction. Badly. By the time I got the rough drafts for both stories finished, June had come home with the pizza she promised. There were three pieces with four kinds of cheese, and it was oh-so-good. We talked for a bit about her night, sounded like she and the guys had had a great time. But by