The Marriage Contract by Natasha Black (best novels ever .TXT) 📗

makes Jordan happy, which is the only thing that mattered to me. But she was really cool and slid in easily at the bar, too. You’d think she’d been waiting tables her whole life. She’s a natural.”

“She’s always been good at anything she decided to do,” I said. “Unlike me. I tend to get lost in my own mind.”

“What is it you want to do?” Matt asked. Unlike every time I had heard that in my life before, there was no judgment to it. No expectation that they already knew what I should do and were waiting to convince me how much better that would be. Just curiosity at what it was I thought I should be doing.

“I really want to pursue journalism,” I said. “I really like finding out everything about something and then creating a story to tell people about it. I did a lot of it in school, but the expectation for me was not to go have a career on my own, so I never pursued it.”

“You should,” Matt said, not a whiff of sarcasm in his voice. “Journalism is a noble career. If it’s what makes you happy, you should go for it.”

I grinned in spite of myself and poked at the fruit salad on my plate. I was trying to be ladylike and had only eaten the eggs and toast along with the fruit, but the more I looked at his plate, the more jealous I became.

“Well, I am stuffed,” he said. “This place makes the single best chicken and waffles I’ve had since I visited South Carolina years ago. Do you want a bite?”

I was struck by the situation. I knew with my upbringing that I should decline politely.

But seriously, fuck my upbringing.

“I’d love to try it,” I said. “Scoot it over.”

When brunch was over, I thanked Matt for bringing me and tried to insist on him not paying for it. He did anyway. It was a sweet gesture, and he walked me back to the hotel as we chatted amiably about some of the hidden treasures of Portland he’d found and thought I should know. When we got to the lobby, I heard my name shouted from across it and looked up to see Hannah. She ran forward and gave me a hug.

“Hey,” I said. “I didn’t know you were coming over. Matt brought me my purse, and we went to brunch.”

“Oh,” Hannah said. “You went to brunch?”

“Uh-huh,” Matt said. “And with that, I am heading out. I’ll see you at the bar Hannah. Chloe, it was fun. I hope I see you again soon.”

“Bye, Matt,” I called as he walked out and then turned to Hannah, who had her eyebrow cocked. “I don’t want to hear it,” I said. “It was just brunch.”

“Fine, fine,” she said. “Well, if you are done ogling my brother-in-law, I’d like to take you to get a new phone.

I scoffed. “I was not ogling him,” I protested, knowing I was smiling as I said it. How could I not ogle?

Hanna just laughed. “Come on, let’s find you a phone and get you on our family plan.”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked. “I use a lot of data.”

“So does Jordan,” Hannah said. “That’s why we have unlimited. Come on, I might upgrade mine while we’re there, too. We can get matching pink ones like we did when we were teenagers.”

“The razors!” I exclaimed, bringing back fond memories of my very first phone, a flip phone from ages back.

“Exactly. Now come on,” she said, offering her arm. I linked my arm with hers, and we left the lobby, heading deeper into town.

5 Matt

It had been a few days since I’d dropped Chloe off at her hotel and gotten “the look” from Hannah about it. Thankfully, she hadn’t said anything, and apparently Jordan either didn’t know or was also keeping quiet. I was grateful for that at least, since having to explain that to my mother would have been difficult.

While staying with me, Mom had been touring some of Portland and had met up with Chloe and Hannah for lunch at one point while Jordan and I were working. It was nice having Mom around, much to my surprise, since she didn’t bug me anymore about settling down, and there was always food sitting in the fridge. Little things that she knew were my favorite, like her lemon bars and a giant bowl of her pesto sauce.

When it was time to see her off, I was actually kind of sad about it. I sometimes forgot how much I missed Astoria and being home. I greatly enjoyed Portland and had no intention of leaving, but it was nice to get a taste of the home I’d grown up in. As she drove away, I still had a little bit of time left before my evening shift and decided to go get a cup of coffee.

I wasn’t the biggest coffee drinker in the world, but occasionally the desire would strike for something full of cream and sugar and heavily caffeinated. There was a coffee shop down the street from the bar that Hannah liked a lot, so I decided to head there and bring back a couple of cups for everyone. As I made my way across the street to where the doors were, they opened, and a familiar pair of eyes met mine.

“Lauren?” I asked in somewhat disbelief.

“Oh my God, Matt, how are you?” Lauren asked, reaching over to give me a friendly hug. She was flanked by two suspicious-looking women who I vaguely recognized as friends of hers that never liked me.

“I’m good,” I said, “just grabbing some coffee before my shift. You?”

“Wedding planning date, actually,” she said, beaming.

I forced out a smile. “Oh wow, congratulations,” I said, hoping I was exuding enough enthusiasm. The two women on either side of her seemed satisfied and grinned.

Lauren and I had dated for just a few months before we both called it off. There was no animosity or