Fallon shook her head. “That’s the first time you’ve immediately pushed back against anything I’ve said. And hard. Lauren was the only deal breaker you had on the entire list. You aren’t willing to budge.” She turned the napkin around, and Lauren’s name in big, bold letters was the only word left standing with a giant circle around it.

“True. There’s no compromise there for me.” Fallon was right. There it was, crystal clear as day. Her response had been instinctual and instantaneous with very little consideration required.

“Yet think about it, Car. You’ve allowed losing your status, something that’s not important to you in the grander scheme, separate you from the one thing on this list you don’t want to live without. Why?” Fallon shook her head as if this was just basic math and took a sip from that candy-apple martini that Carly should have ordered.

She closed her eyes and shaded her face with one hand. “Right. I’m an idiot.”

“Interesting strategy there, champ. So fix it.”

Carly took another sip. “I’m gonna try. I’m not entirely sure how yet. But I’m gonna.” A pause. “How about I order us another round of those,” she said, gesturing to Fallon’s martini, “and we come up with a firm plan.”

Fallon clapped with her fingertips. “Plans are my favorite.”

* * *

Minneapolis weather did not mess around. If Carly thought the place was cold in October, she wasn’t prepared for late November. Her minimally lined leather jacket wasn’t cutting it against the whipping winter winds. She’d honestly known better, but larger details stole the space in her mind these days. She flipped the collar up and cursed herself for not pulling a scarf out of her bag.

It had been three days since Lauren left Los Angeles. Carly knew she’d flown home because she’d posted a photo of herself reunited with Rocky to her social media accounts. They’d looked adorably snuggly, and Carly almost forgot she didn’t currently have the right to take joy in that. Instead, she booked her own ticket for the following day, packed her bag, and set off for Minnesota.

On her way to the airport, a text from Lauren hit her phone, finally answering the string Carly had sent.

I’m sorry to have dashed away on you. Not really thinking LA is for me. I’m sorry things didn’t happen differently. I think we want different things.

Of course, it looked that way. She’d let it. More motivated than ever, Carly knew that there was no way she was having this conversation from across the country. She needed to look into those green eyes and tell Lauren what a self-involved jackass she’d been and get them back on the same page.