Annika glanced at June, feeling guilty. She’d never told her all of what had happened in Vegas, and they never kept things like that from each other. For now, though, Annika had to keep it to herself. Hudson was a distraction, and neither of them could afford to be distracted.

Anyway, Vegas was immaterial. Her past with Hudson Craft was immaterial.

“Let’s get back to the pitch. We need to be twice as good as Break Up, which means we need to get it nailed down and ready to go ASAP.”

June looked up at her, her eyes hopeful. “You think we still have a shot?”

Annika smiled grimly. “Yeah. A kill shot.”

chapter four

Annika sat on the tiny, definitely-not-code-compliant balcony attached to her apartment and pulled her cardigan tighter to ward off the slight chill in the air. She set her wineglass and phone on the small metal table beside her and took a deep breath. Whatever the weather, she made it a point to spend a few nights a week out here. It was the whole reason she’d gotten the place. She didn’t have a great view—there was a parking lot below—but in the distance, she could see the downtown lights sparkling in the night, and somehow, that felt like home. Seeing evidence of other people, of progress, of this giant, sprawling city breathing and growing and aggressively living, helped her feel less alone. It helped her feel like she was part of something.

Describing people as scattered leaves to June earlier came from a small, scared place deep inside her. Reconnecting people to their loved ones distracted her from her secret conviction that she was never going to find what they had. Ever since she was a teen, Annika had had an abiding sense that if people were made in pairs, like socks, she was the sock the universe had lost in the washing machine. She was displaced, destined to be forever alone.

Which was fine. Everyone had their part to play, and Annika’s part was the matchmaker. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. But she was grateful she got to be part of the periphery.

She took a sip of her wine, feeling it pool in her stomach, flushing her skin with warmth. Colin the beta tester would be coming in the next day, and whatever else might be on her mind, she’d work hard to make sure his time was well spent at the office. She thought of Mr. McManor again, criticizing, weighing, judging her in her space, and closed her eyes, only to see Hudson Craft’s face, his obnoxious smirk as he said he was doing the EPIC contest, too.