Bar Crawl(33)

CJ radiated excitement as we moved to my couch and flipped on the TV. “She’s got to be shitting her pants right now. I’m so bummed we couldn’t watch this with her.”

“She’s lucky to have a friend like you, CJ.”

He shrugged, perpetually passive about his own virtues. “I’m lucky to have her.”

As he put his arm around my shoulder, I snuggled into the warm nook of his body. “Will she be in the area when you have your first book signing?” I’d arranged for my library to host a signing for CJ on the book’s release day. That also took loads of prodding to get him to agree to.

“I still can’t believe we’re talking about me here.” His eyes looked wide and nervous. A look they were unused to, since he always carried himself with such pride.

“Believe it, baby,” I teased. “From the buzz you’ve generated on social media already, I think this book is gonna be huge. I bet you never thought your big break would come from your writing.”

“Not in a million,” he admitted, squeezing me close and kissing me on the top of the head.

I’d lived inside books my entire life, making games out of guessing plots and dissecting motives and symbolism. Still, as I sat in my living room next to the biggest plot twist my life had ever written, for the first time I was okay with not knowing what the next page held.