“Seattle’s really boring without you.”

I glance away from the price tag on a dress to look at Hannah. “I told you it would be. I’m the life of the party.”

She smiles and hits me in the arm. “I’m serious. It’s not the same without you.”

I push through some clothes on the rack. “I still think you should move down here.”

Hannah’s silent for a minute before speaking. “I’m actually kind of considering it.”

I pause my hand on a silk dress and look over at her. “Really?”

She shrugs. “Well I was talking to one of my old profs about counseling jobs and he mentioned a couple jobs down here.”

“That’s because every person in LA is in therapy.” I follow her further through the clothing boutique. “So you’re actually considering it.”

“I just need a change from Seattle and I’ve always wanted to live in California. And you’re here.”

I smile and throw my arm around her shoulders, squeezing her into me. “And we work better together.”

Hannah laughs and pinches my cheek. “That’s right we do.” She moves over to a table of folded shirts. “I don’t know. I have to look into it a bit more. I was thinking tomorrow I’d go look into those jobs while you’re at that meeting.”

“That would be so much fun if you lived out here.”

“I know. I miss our coffee dates.” She holds up a shirt and then drops it. “Plus my wardrobe has really been suffering without your fashion advice. I don’t know what the hell to buy anymore.”

I pick up the shirt she had dropped. “I like this.”

She grabs it from me. “Done,” she says and I laugh. “Now pick out some pants. My favorite black ones ripped.”

“I know a really good place for pants on the other side of the mall,” I say, giving her a push towards the cash register. “Buy that shirt and we’ll go there.”

“So why haven’t I seen your man at all since I got here yesterday?” Hannah asks as she puts the shirt on the counter. “When you phoned me last week you said he had practically moved in but he wasn’t there at all yesterday.”

I wait until Hannah has her purse and we’re walking out of the store to respond. I don’t need a nosy cashier to go to some tabloid with shit on Justin and I. “I had a talk with him a couple days ago about needing some space.”

She looks over at me as we walk through the mall. “Are you guys on a break?”

“No.” I shake my head. “Not like that. I think he was a little offended when I told him to go home that night but I think I explained myself well enough so that he gets why I just needed a couple nights to myself.”

“Well first you had Jordan staying there and then your mom and then Elodie and Emma. That’s reason enough to need some time to yourself.”

“Yeah. Well that was like three weeks ago when everyone was staying with me but since then Justin had just been over a lot. And it’s not like I hate having him there but I just needed some time by myself.”

“You should invite him over for dinner tonight. I miss that little guy.”

That makes me smile. Hannah and Justin somehow managed to just click perfectly. They really haven’t spent that much time together but when you see them together you would think they’d known each other for years. “I could.” I stumble a bit when Hannah gives me a shove to the side. “What?”

She gives me a look and gestures to the store she’s pushed me towards. “Duh. Victoria Secret.”

I laugh and let her pull me into the store. Hannah is underwear obsessed. Okay, let’s be honest, so am I a bit. We both spend way too much money here and I literally have two dresser drawers devoted simply to Victoria Secret. “I so don’t need more stuff from here.”

“Me neither. But they have a sale on.” She goes over to a table and picks up a black and pink bra. “Look how cute this is.” She tosses it over to me. “Here.”

I examine it. “Why’d you give it to me?”

“Because you actually have someone who will appreciate the underwear you’re wearing,” she says, moving onto another table. “I’ve got no one.”

I take another look at the bra before tossing it back on the table. That thing does not look comfortable. “That lace would kill me.”

“What does Justin like?”

My eyes shoot towards her. “Pardon?”

“For lingerie? Does he like lace? Ribbons? Silk? Leather?” A smile forms over his face. “I bet he likes the kinky stuff, right?”

My eyes widen and I look around to see if anyone is within earshot of her. Thankfully no one is. “Hannah!”

She laughs. “You look so shocked right now.”

I shake my head and press my hand to my cheek. I’m sure my face is bright red. “I cannot believe you asked me that.”

She snorts and picks up a bra. “Don’t be such a prude. I’m just trying to help you pick something out so you guys can improve your relationship.”

I shake my head again and don’t respond. Instead I move around her to the lingerie section. I’m not about to tell her about Justin’s sexual preferences in the middle of a store but maybe she’s onto something with the lingerie idea.

“So ribbons, huh?”

I roll my eyes at her and drop the ribbons I was fingering on a black teddy. “You’re such an embarrassment.”

She laughs and pushes me aside to look at the teddy. “You should definitely buy this. It’s hot.”

I take another look at the teddy and smile. It is pretty hot and I’m really tempted to buy it. “Maybe. It’s ridiculously expensive though.”

“But it’s hot,” she repeats, glancing at her watch. “You should call Justin if you’re going to have him over for dinner. It’s almost four already.”

“I should,” I agree and pull my phone from my purse.

“What’s he doing today?”

“I think he’s at the studio recording.”

“Why is the mighty Justin Timberlake gracing us with another album?”

I smile. “That seems to be the plan.” I dial his cell phone number and put the phone to my ear, moving away from the people around me for privacy.

“Hey,” he greets me after the second ring.

“Hi. How are you?”

“Great. What about you?”

“Good. You never called at all yesterday.”

“Well you said you wanted some space.”

I roll my eyes at his words. He’s so dramatic sometimes. “I said I needed a couple nights in my own bed alone. Don’t be such a drama queen.”

He laughs and I hear the sound of a chair squeaking. I can almost see him sitting in the recording studio, leaning back in a chair in front of the soundboard. “What are you up to?”

“Shopping with Hannah.”

“Right she’s out here for a few days.”

“Yeah. She wants you to come for dinner tonight.”

“Just her?”

I smile. “I’d like you to come over too. If you pick up Chinese food on your way.”

He laughs. “So you want me to come over and supply dinner.”

“Basically,” I smile. A group of young girls near me squeal near me and I cringe and move a few feet away from them.

“Where exactly are you?”

“Victoria Secret. Some high school girls just got really excited about a panty sale.”

“Victoria Secret, huh?” I can hear the smile in his voice. “I like it when you go to Victoria Secret.”

I smirk. “I know you do. Hannah’s trying to convince me to spend my entire life savings here.”

“Well how about this. You find the hottest thing you can find there and use my credit card to get it.”

I had forgotten I had one of his credit cards with me. Man, why didn’t I remember that before? I should be buying everything right now. “Hm, maybe I will.”

“You can wear it later tonight.” He pauses. “That is if I’m allowed to stay over.”

I roll my eyes again. He acts like I cut him off for weeks. It’s seriously been two nights. “I suppose you can.”

“Well now I’m pretty excited for tonight.”

I laugh softly. “Don’t get too excited. You don’t want to scare off your music buddies.”

“I’ll try not to make things awkward,” he laughs. “What time should I come over?”

“We’re still shopping…so maybe six? Does that work?”

“Works perfectly. I’ll see you then.”

“Great. Bye.”

“I love you, Cass.”

I smile at his drawn out words. He always makes a big deal when I try and hang up without saying those words. “I love you too, Justin,” I mimic in his exact tone.

He laughs. “Bye.”

“Bye.” Hanging up the phone, I go back over to where that teddy is. Now that I have a free credit card at my disposal, I think I’ll have to take a closer look at this thing.

* * *

I guess the bass of my music gave my arrival away because I barely have my key to Cassie’s house out when the front door opens and I’m met with Hannah’s smiling face.

“Justin Timberlake.”

I feel my own smile spreading across my face. “Hannah Webb,” I reply. “You look great.”

Her smile widens. “Why thank you.” She opens her arms. “Well put those bags down and give me a hug. I don’t have all day.”

I laugh and do as she says, setting the bags of Chinese food down on the step and wrapping my arms around her in a hug. “How’ve you been?”

She squeezes me back. “Fabulous. And yourself?”

“Great.” I release her and reach down to grab the bags of food. “How long are you out here for?”

“Until Saturday.” She closes the door behind me and then turns back to me. “So did you hear the big news?”

“What big news?” I ask, following her through the house to the kitchen.

“I may be moving out here.”

“Really? Sweet. How come?”

“There’s some job openings here.”

I put the bags on the counter and focus on her. “You’re done school right?”

“I finished in May. So I’m not a licensed psychologist.”

“Now there’s a scary thought.”

She hits my arm and I laugh. “Jerk. Don’t be mean to me or you won’t get to hear my words of wisdom..”

I smile and rub my arm where she hit. The girl’s small but she’s pretty powerful. “So do you have interviews lined up?”

“I’m going in tomorrow to the two places to check them out. I have this one prof who really loves me and he knows a lot of people out here and he gave the impression that if I wanted one of the jobs, he’d make it happen.”

“Score.” I open one of the bags of food. “Where’s Cassie at?”

“She’s upstairs on the phone. She said to get her when you got here.”

“I’ll go grab her,” I offer.

“I’ll get things set up down here.”

I leave Hannah in the kitchen and take the stairs two at a time up to Cassie’s room. Sure enough she’s on the balcony, leaning against the railing, the phone pressed to her ear. I cross her room and slide the door open. She doesn’t turn around and I listen to her side of the conversation, waiting for her to notice me.

“Well no, Monday when I’m in we can look at it together and figure out which girls we want.” She laughs. “Well you say this is your expertise area so I’m going to hold you to that…uh huh, sure, Kyle.”

Damnit. Why is she talking to Kyle? She works with him five days a week, much to my distaste, and now she’s talking to him at six o’clock on a Saturday night? Why can’t this guy just get it through his head that Cassie’s taken and he needs to back off?

“Oh no, for sure. We’ll figure it out…” She trails off when I step beside her and she sees me. She offers a small smile to me. “Yeah. Okay well I have to go but I’ll talk to you later…Sure. Bye.”

“So tell me what exactly it is about Kyle that makes him call you about work constantly?”

Okay so maybe that wasn’t the best way to say hello and I’m already regretting it when I see her smile fade.

“Don’t do this, Justin.”

I take a deep breath and look out at the view from her balcony. Our relationship has felt a bit rocky the past couple weeks and I don’t want to rock the boat by bringing up this issue that she refuses to acknowledge. I can just pretend it doesn’t bother me that she talks to Kyle outside of work. For tonight.

“I’m sorry,” I say, trying to come across as sincerely as possible. “Forget I said anything.”

She looks like she would rather tell me off but after her own glance off the balcony, she nods and looks back at me. “Did you bring the food?”

“It’s downstairs with Hannah getting cold.”

“Then we better go eat.”

She tries to move past me but I grab her hand before she can get too far and pull her back to me. “Hey,” I say softly. I bring my hand up to her cheek and lean down to kiss her gently. “I’m glad we’re hanging out tonight. I’ve missed you.”

Her demeanor softens a bit and she gives me a sincere smile. “I’ve missed you too.” She gives my hand a tug. “Let’s go eat before Hannah eats it all.”

I let her pull me from the balcony and through her room. I’m definitely not thrilled about the whole talking on the phone with Kyle thing but for now, I’m not going to worry too much about it. I want to just get things back to normal between us before bringing up any of that shit.