“Oh, don’t say you won’t get it,” Lauren told Avery and passed the Playbill back. “You might be surprised.”

“And if you do get it, don’t knock the scenery over,” Carly said, and inclined her head to Lauren, who winced and nodded.

“Get out. You didn’t do that! You couldn’t.” Avery looked back at her mother gleefully.

“Oh, I certainly did. My family plays that video every time I have a birthday party. So if I can do it, so can you.”

They moved down the line, and after a few minutes passed, Carly felt Lauren loosen up and come alive. “I can’t believe I’m on this side of things,” Lauren whispered as they departed the crowd and headed for her car. “I’m usually on the other side of things. That’s who I am, an other-side-of-things person.”

“What?” Carly balked. “No, you’re not. You’re definitely a mover and a shaker, no matter what your job is. It’s silly to think otherwise.”

“You can’t call me silly.” But Lauren was laughing.

“I can, too, but only when you’re discrediting yourself, because you are kick-ass and amazing and talented and I really, really like you. You should like you, too, and believe you’re worthy of the nice things people say.”

“I’ll work on that.” Lauren shivered and shoved her hands into the pockets of that tweed jacket and looked adorable and fashion-forward at the same time, a killer combo.

“You talked about pizza earlier and what you would top it with. What’s another favorite of yours in life?” Carly opened the passenger side door and slid inside.

Lauren joined her. “Total non sequitur.”

“I want to know more about you. As much as I can.”

“Okay, let me think.” She started the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, en route to The Argyle. “I like it when it rains, more than most people. It rarely depresses me. In fact, it makes me dive into my day and focus because I’m not being called outside.”

“The rain makes me snuggly.”

“You’re a pleasure monster. It’s…contagious.” Lauren laughed. “I can’t believe we just had one of the most amazing experiences not just one hour ago, and we’re taking about liking rain.”

Carly wasn’t deterred. Maybe it was because of her high that she wanted to be even closer to Lauren. Hearing about what went on her head was part of that. “What else?”

“I color when I’m stressed in those fancy adult coloring books. I also really like yoga when I have the time for it, which is rare.”

“Me, too,” Carly said. “Not the coloring part. I’ve never tried that, but yoga has been amazing for my body and concentration. We should jump into a class together next week.”

“We’d get kicked out.”

“What? Why?”