I laughed. “It’s okay. You have a date tomorrow night anyway, don’t you? How are things with Caleb?”

Caleb was her Tinder date from last week, a slightly older veterinarian with a three-year-old daughter. Different from her usual type, but maybe that was a good thing. Usually Zara gravitated toward bad boys, with bad outcomes as a result.

“Amazing.” Zara’s eyes sparkled. I’d never seen her so excited about someone.

“It’s their third date,” Noelle said in a sing-song voice. “Someone’s going to get lucky.”

Zara blushed, which was the first time I had ever seen her look bashful. “Well, maybe. We’re kind of taking it slow.”

I wasn’t sure it could be much slower than Chase and me, who’d yet to even establish our intentions. I was pretty sure he almost kissed me the other day, but now I was second-guessing myself. Maybe he really did see me as just a friend, and the flirting was for fun. It was hard to tell with him sometimes.

Ugh.

This limbo we were in was both exhilarating and exhausting.

“I’ll wear ear plugs tonight in case,” Noelle said.

Zara’s cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. “It’s not my fault the walls are thin.”

“Speaking of that,” I said. “This might seem a little out of left field, but have you guys given any thought to living arrangements for next year?”

A gust of wind from the open door blew in, chilling us all. I pulled on my plaid scarf, wishing we had grabbed a table closer to the back.

“Not really.” Noelle shook her head. “That’s still so far away. Depends on what happens with our rent, I guess. Last year our landlord raised it 10 percent, so if she does that again, we might look for something else. How come?”

I swallowed a bite of food. “I was wondering if you might want to get a three bedroom.”

“That would be awesome,” Noelle said. “We would have so much fun.”

Zara took a sip of iced tea, nodding. She set down the glass as a confused frown crossed her face. “But wait. Why don’t you want to stay with Amelia and Jillian?”

“Uh…We aren’t really getting along lately.”

“Really?” Noelle frowned. “What’s going on?”

“What’s not?” I snorted. “Everyone hates me because of Luke. And they’re using Chase as an excuse, since he’s supposedly enemy number one.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Luke broke up with you. And you’re a free person.” Zara stabbed at her noodle salad aggressively.

“Tell me about it,” I said. “But it’s so uncomfortable I don’t even want to be there anymore. If I could afford a place on my own, I would be out tomorrow.”

Noelle winced. “That sucks, B. I’m sorry. I don’t know why they would be so shitty.”