Harley grabs my right hand, holding it tight in hers. “You absolutely deserve him. He’d be lucky to have you, Sadie.”

Gemma takes my other hand. “And you deserve us. And we know how fucking lucky we are to have you.”

“You guys are the best, and I love you.” That blasted wetness springs up in my eyes again, but at least this time I can blame it on the margaritas.

I wake up the next morning, not not with a hangover. It’s a weird haze of too much emotional conversation combined with too much tequila and not enough water. My head aches, but not so much as to be debilitating. I’ll be able to function, but movements will be slow today.

The weather is starting to cool down as we head further into October, so I pull on my favorite jeans and a light sweater before heading out the door and straight to Bagel World for the biggest breakfast sandwich they make and coffee for me and Jack. The air is crisp and cool on the walk back home, and the long cleansing breaths I take help further clear the alcohol-and-emotion fug from my brain.

Even after talking things out with Harley and Gemma, I still can’t piece together the puzzle that is me and Jack. I know I like him. I’m pretty sure he likes me. I know we both have some serious mental blockages due to our unfortunate parental situations. I think these are things we could work out, and work on, together.

I’ve never wanted to work on anything with anyone, together or not, so this thought alone should be a good indicator of just how deep I’m in. But knowing this frisson with Jack isn’t just some lust-fueled fling doesn’t do much for me in terms of filling in the blanks. I’m still left wondering if he feels the same way. If he’ll ever be able to get past his hang-ups.

The not knowing, and the living in a constant state of What the fuck is happening here, is a lot. It’d probably be a hell of a lot easier to just cut my losses and bail now, but the whole living-together situation kind of makes that impossible. Unless I want to move out. Which I definitely don’t.

So I guess I just have to hang in there and wait, see whether he returns my feelings and whether he eventually wants to be with me too. And I just have to hope he’s worth the wait.

Actually, that’s the one thing I don’t need to bother to hope for. I know he is.