Here's to Us(What If It's Us #2)(18)

Maybe they were chilling. Let’s call it what it is—maybe Arthur and Mikey were having sex. Picturing your ex with someone else is really hard. It’s one of those things you don’t want to think about, but the thoughts don’t care what you want. It’s especially hard to not think about those things when you’re writing a book with a character inspired by that person.

There’s a chance to make things right for never texting Arthur back after he wished me happy birthday. I wish he would’ve told me himself that he was coming to New York, but maybe he was taking the hint when I never got back to him. But he’s reaching out now, so it’s my turn.

I take a picture of the post office and send Arthur two texts.

Happy, Universe?





Chapter Six


Arthur

Monday, May 18




Jessie steps out of the dressing room in a herringbone suit made for someone half a foot taller. “Cool, I look like three kids in a trench coat,” she says.

I laugh. “You do not.”

She eyes me skeptically.

“First of all, it’s a blazer, not a trench coat.”

Jessie puffs her cheeks out and exhales noisily, and I instantly feel the pain of a thousand suburban-mall boyfriends. “What do I do? I can’t show up at a law firm like this.”

“You know you don’t actually have to wear suits, right? Just go business casual.”

She looks despairingly into the mirror. “What does that even mean?”

“Business casual? I don’t know, like, a blouse or a button-up. Something like that. Just dress like Meghan Markle in Suits.”

“So you’re saying I do need a suit?” Jessie looks bewildered.

“No—yeah, no, that’s just what the show’s called. Meghan’s solidly business casual. You know what? Let me just pull up my Meghan board—”

“Why do you have a Meghan Markle Pinterest board?”

“Because she’s my birthday twin. You know that.” I stand, grabbing my phone from my back pocket. But I stop dead in my tracks the moment I see the screen.

Two notifications. Two texts. Texts from—



“Jess.” My voice comes out choked. “Ben wrote back.”

Jessie yanks my phone from my hands. “You texted him? When?”

“When you were in the dressing room. It’s not a thing.”

“Are you going to tell Mikey?” she asks.

“Already did.”

“You told Mikey you texted Ben?”

“Yes! Go check if you want.”

Jessie narrows her eyes, like she’s looking for the catch.

“It’s fine! Why do you have literally no faith in my relationship?”

“What?” She pauses, startled. “Not true. I just think you should be careful. I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.”

“Jessie, I’m not going to cheat. That’s so completely not—”

“I know! But, Arthur, cheating’s not the only thing that can strain a relationship, okay? Here.” She hands my phone back. “Just take it. But use it responsibly, okay?”

“So I should delete the nuclear codes from my Notes app?”

“Just don’t blow up your relationship with Mikey. I kind of like him.”

I smile. “I do, too.”

Now I’m thinking about how Mikey surprised me this morning with a video of him and Mia singing “New York State of Mind”—hands down the cutest thing that’s ever happened in the history of music. I played it for Jessie over breakfast, and half a croissant fell out of her mouth when Mikey hit the A4 in the second verse. It was the first time she’d ever heard his singing voice outside of group vocals. Mikey’s just always been really shy about solos. But fucking look at him now. I haven’t been this proud of anyone since—well, since Bennace the Menace uploaded his final chapter to Wattpad.

Ben.

The minute Jessie steps back into the dressing room, I tap into my messages.

Definitely a sign from the universe! And speaking of the , guess where I am at this very moment Ben’s second text is a photo. And my brain completely derails.

“Holy shit.”

“Uh-oh. What?” Jessie peeks her head out the side of the dressing room curtain.

“Ben’s at the post office.”

“Okay.”

“Jessie, the post office. It’s—”

“It’s where you met. I’m familiar with the legend.”

“No, I mean it’s two blocks away. Ben Alejo is two blocks away.”

Jessie’s eyes flare wide. “Oh.”

I press my phone to my chest, only half aware I’m doing it. My heart’s pounding so hard, I swear it might crack the screen.

“Should we go say hi?”

“You mean should we ambush your ex-boyfriend?”

“It’s not an ambush!” I laugh, but it comes out breathless. “I just think it would be cool to see him. It’s been two years—”

“So make actual plans with him, like a normal person.”

But I’m shaking my head before she even stops talking. “You don’t get how Ben and I work. Jess, this is the universe at play. Ben said so himself!”