Page 14 (1/2)

Mike had no idea what he was supposed to say as he stared at the chatThis was so out of his eleue, but he knew he needed to do soe of yet another woman They were supposed to share her – that was the entire plan

So he had typed,

"lolol, yeah don't be afraid, we could just go for a hike if you want

Oh, I think I just asked you out

Yeah I did"

And when she typed "Yes," he couldn't believe it – and panicked Now he actually had to step forward Dylan had always gone out and found the women and had been the one to find Jill, and no one and they had to accept that

Laura was pretty much the opposite of Jill, but he could see what Dylan saw in her That was a sweet s Mike couldn't put his finger on, a genuineness and authenticity, but he and Dylan were not exactly the e

So he worried thatto make the cut – or maybe he was more worried that they wouldn't make the cut with her The office cubicle type wasn't exactly eager to go out on the slopes or to even watch hi ait a good try and Mike had to, too The problem was that Mike had to do it in secret He typed in a few more words, they scheduled the hike, and then she disappeared, off to whatever corporate job she had on whatever floor of whatever giant skyscraper don That world was so alien to hi it already

You don't just work there anymore, a voice inside him said You own it

The season hadn't started yet, but he looked forward to it He always did every year and when he wasn't skiing he was running Between the two he kept his sanity somehow, for over the years he had learned that the endorphin kick that ca and from the massive double diamond trails in the winter hat he needed most Jill had fit in nicely with his life and with Dylan's life, spending ti with him Man, was she an ace on the slopes, too

She and Dylan had an affinity for action ic, even let his eyes well up with tears Letting theover fro he'd only recently been able to e hiain

His body was consu, it hadn't been skiing, it hadn't been any of Dylan's crazy antics like sky diving or parasailing that had killed Jill

It had been one cell that mutated and mutated and mutated until finally it had taken over her body, the lyotten over her death frootten over Jill even faster than Dylan, though Dylan had been the first to go out and find soone out and broken that physical barrier yet, replacing the memory of Jill's body with sohteen etting frustrated Now he finally felt eive this a try, and he was ? All he kneas that he had to try, and he had to try on his own He couldn't be the tag along with Dylan That had co It wasn't until it was too late that Mike realized that it actually hadn't mattered He had loved Jill Jill had loved him and they both loved Dylan And the three of them had made it work, somehow, in their own crazy way

Now the question was, could the three of theetting ahead of hi one hike with the woman He just needed to see if this could be his future – their future

She had never gone on a date like this – hiking? Meeting Dylan last night had been a very public affair, even if it ended in the very private way She thought about it and realized that she needed to call in some reinforcements, so she texted Josie:

Hey, Jose, I have a date tonight Can you help me?

Josie texted back:

Oh, cool, the firefighter? Awesome

Laura winced and answered:

Well, no, not the firefighter Someone different

What?

Yeah, it turns out I' site

Josie texted:

Hold on, I'm five minutes away froht you were late for work

I am, but who cares You have time?

There is no way you can have that kind of date like last night and now a new date and not give me the juicy details before work

Laura walked over to the coffee rounds and started what she kneas going to be the first of many cups of coffee today As proh the front door and plopping down her suitcase-sized purse on the kitchen table, eyes ablaze with curiosity

"You slut!" Josie said it with a tone of admiration, not condemnation, and the expression on her face was so cohter

"Well, thank you, I guess"

"No, no, I just mean – damn So, how does this work? What the hell happened with the firefighter?"

"He'sfroer on Laura's behalf What a great friend Laura alish Josie looked