Had he gone too far? Was the notebook too much? Or had Ash simply withered in the face of Truman’s organizational zeal?

He dropped onto the couch and threw an arm over his face. All his excitement about the ideas for Thorn had deflated.

Hey, he messaged Germaine and Charlotte. What percentage of budding friendships are ruined by one side’s over-enthusiastic brainstorming about business ideas, would you say? Because I might have just demonstrated that it’s a drastically underrepresented category of social destruction!

He added laughing and crying emojis, then the clown face.

Oh no, Truman! came Germaine’s quick reply. The florist?

Yup. A rose emoji, then a frowning emoji. I brainstormed him right into a panic about his business.

Psh, wimp, Charlotte wrote. Him, that is.

Maybe I was a little, um. Overenthusiastic.

One of your most endearing qualities! wrote Germaine.

If flower boy can’t see that you have great ideas, then he doesn’t deserve you. Or them.

Yeah, Germaine wrote. Real talk, are you INTO flower boy?

Stop calling him flower boy, it makes him sound like he’s a child in someone’s wedding. And NO. I am done with men.

Truman searched for a GIF of someone from a black-and-white movie dramatically collapsing onto a fainting couch, but before he found it, Charlotte replied.

You’ll never be done with men, Truman. You’re a hopeless romantic. Emphasis on hopeless.

Haha, Truman wrote.

But. Was that true? He’d never thought of himself that way before.

It’s true, T, Germaine wrote.

What? No I’m not! Circumstantial evidence!

Not what that means, Charlotte replied immediately.

Joke alert, C.

Getting facts wrong is not now and will never be funny.

Truman snorted.

Okay, you want proof? Your favorite part of TDoZ is when Aerlich begins to stray toward the darkness and Clarion pines over him for LITERALLY the rest of her life.

THAT is your proof??

Germaine sent a screen of broken hearts.

I kinda agree, boo, Germaine wrote. Like, I love Aerlich, as you well know, but by book six I really wanted Clarion to be with Illonial.

Truman’s blood boiled as it always did when this came up.

She can NOT be with Illonial. He doesn’t love animals!!! It’s like the basis of her whole interaction with the WORLD!!!

Charlotte sent a thumbs-down emoji.

People can be in love and not share all the same interests, she wrote.

That’s NOT a partnership! Clarion and Aerlich were so connected and they had the same worldview and values. They were a team and they faced the world together until—

Truman broke off because it was too painful to rehash Aerlich’s fate.

Charlotte sent a laughing emoji and wrote, SEE?

You’re a super romantic, babe, Germaine agreed.

Truman wasn’t sure how to render the sound of a grumble in a chat, so he wrote, GRUMBLE GRUMBLE GRUMBLE.