“Well, I never thought you, Ms. Sunshine herself, would end up with my grumpy ass of a best friend, but here you two are.”

Lila smiled. “Yeah, here we are.”

“Oliver, when did you say you were leaving for the whitewater rafting training course?” Elise asked from in front of us.

“Probably in a few weeks. What about you?” I called. I was trying to get excited about the idea, especially since I’d found out Elise would be there too. I’d always gotten along well with her. She was a blast.

“I might head out there earlier. Do you remember my girlfriend, Jules?”

“Of course,” I said. A group of us had gone boarding together a few times.

“She’s going to be a guide, too, but we wanted to rent a van for a week before it starts. Just for fun to see the area and get an idea for vanlife. We might want to try it out after the rafting season is over.”

“That’s awesome. You two will love that. You used to always talk about living in a van.”

“I know.” Elise beamed. “I’m so excited.”

She turned and resumed her conversation with her friends as Lila and I fell a few steps behind.

“You know Frankie is totally jealous of Elise, right?” Lila asked.

My eyebrows shot into my hairline. I snuck a glance back at Frankie but she was too far behind to see.

“I don’t think so. She doesn’t seem like the jealous type,” I insisted.

Lila let out a breathless laugh. “Her face was bright pink when she introduced herself earlier. She was totally eyeing Elise up like competition.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Although I’d be lying if I said the thought didn’t give me a twinge of satisfaction. Hearing earlier that she hadn’t wanted to claim me or for me to claim her, stung like hell.

“Elise is totally textbook your type,” Lila said.

“Except for the obvious fact that she has a girlfriend.” I chuckled and shook my head.

“Frankie doesn’t know that,” Lila pointed out. “To her, Elise looks like some outdoorsy, adventure babe who you’re about to go work with for a few months. I bet she’s freaking out.”

I thought about reversing the situation. If some guy in a suit showed up in Key Ridge who used to work with Frankie and talked about moving to New York, I’d sure as hell be seeing red. As irrational as that was, it was the truth. But a New York guy in a suit would be perfect for her. Not like me.

“I’ll clear things up with her.”

Lila snorted. “Yeah, you seem to be in a rush to do just that.”

I shrugged. “Maybe I want her to feel a tiny bit of what it could be like to lose me.”

Lila cringed. “That’s not healthy.”

“Hey, don’t judge me. It’s not my fault the best relationship I’ve ever been in also happens to be the most complicated one.”

“Relationship is a strong word⁠—”