Trip Switch

1. Lila

ONE

Lila

One of the happiest moments of my best friend’s life was about to take place right behind that door and here I was, stalling on the sidewalk out front. I had a meticulously wrapped gift in hand and was wearing a black and lilac floral dress I had only worn one other time—on a first date that had ended up being a complete dud.

That was the worst; when you saved an outfit for a special occasion, only for that occasion to fall miles short of any of your expectations. At least no one at Charlie and Nathan’s engagement party would have seen me in it yet. It was like I was giving it a second chance. Although, judging from the bizarre, nauseated feeling brewing deep in my gut, I wasn’t sure this dress’s second outing was going to be any better than its first.

Shut up.

I mentally scolded myself for the negative thoughts. My best friend was getting married , for crying out loud. Her engagement party was going to be fun . Charlie and I had fantasized about this day since we were just twenty-two, fresh out of college, with a blossoming friendship and still na?ve to all the dating atrocities in our near future.

Nathan might be a bit, um...stoic, but it was obvious to anyone with eyes that he loved Charlie. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her. I was so over the moon thrilled for them that I had burst into happy tears the moment she’d told me.

The only thing causing my mixed emotions was that I had hung on to the stupid thought that, when Charlie did turn up at my house one random Sunday morning, eager to show me a new piece of jewelry on her left hand, my own life wouldn’t be quite so far behind.

My rust-colored hair was gathered in a loose bun at the nape of my neck. I had been going for elegant, but now it just irritated the delicate skin there, begging me to throw it up in a high ponytail.

“Are you planning on going in, or were you going to watch the party from here?” A deep, cheerful voice interrupted my thoughts.

Oliver, Nathan’s brother, strode up to where I stood rooted in place. His light blue button-down shirt could have used one more pass with an iron, and his hair was still damp from the shower he’d likely just taken after climbing, or mountain biking, or whatever it was he’d gotten up to today. But all he had to do was flash his megawatt smile and he looked perfectly adorable. What must it be like to have endless boyish charm?

“I just got here,” I lied, letting him scoop me into his arms for a quick hug.

As Charlie and Nathan had become more and more inseparable, so had Oliver and I. We shared a near-endless amount of optimism, always eager to jump into something headfirst. Like that time we’d discovered there was an amusement park on top of a mountain, only a few hours away from Denver. We couldn’t get anyone else to go with us, but we’d made the drive the next morning because we were too excited about the prospect of riding a mountain-side roller coaster. And it had been worth it, despite the six extra hours we’d sat in traffic on the way home.

“We had to circle the block to find parking, and you’ve been standing here the entire time.” Another deep voice said from directly behind me, this one without even an ounce of cheer. I spun around and came face to face with him .

Harrison, Oliver’s best friend, smirked down at me, and I wished—for the millionth time in the year since meeting the man—that his smug expression and uncouth comments had no effect on me.

His tattooed biceps bulged out of the black, short-sleeved button-up he wore. It aggravated me to no end that he towered over me, even though most men did. But God had done too much when he was crafting Harrison. Sure, He’d given him a crappy personality, but there was still no reason for Harrison to have both that sharp of a jawline and that perfect of a body. Maybe he had a terrible smile, and that was where the universe had decided to balance him out. I wouldn’t know, because he’d never graced me with one.

“Harrison. Good to see you.” I smiled sweetly, but neither of us made a move to hug. Hugging was not the level we were at. I doubted anyone—except maybe Oliver—was on hugging terms with Harrison. And even then, I couldn’t picture it.

“Nervous to go inside alone?” he guessed. While the comment itself wasn’t obnoxious, and actually half-true, something about Harrison’s delivery made the tiny hairs on my arm stand at attention.

“Not at all.”

“So, you’re just practicing your stalking skills, and seeing how far away you can stand and still see into the window?”

I sighed with exasperation.

Oliver chuckled. “You two kill me.”

The twinkle in Harrison’s dark eyes revealed he found the whole thing amusing, but his amusement never felt like it was in a good-natured way. And this was definitely not Harrison’s way of flirting, no matter how hard Charlie had tried to convince me it was.

Even though a small part of me kind of wished it were true.

Harrison was so not my usual type, yet I couldn’t seem to get my primal responses to register that information. I would never call what I felt toward him a crush , at least not out loud, but my stomach did do strange flippy things whenever we were in the same room together.

I would never admit that to anyone. As far as anyone else was concerned, we didn’t care for each other. And to be fair, in my mind, I completely and totally didn’t. My body just never got the memo.

“I was just feeling a little light-headed and wanted to collect myself before heading in,” I said. There, that was at least a little closer to the truth.

A palm was on my forehead before I had a chance to react. “No fever. You feel a bit cold, if anything,” Oliver said confidently as I jerked away from his hot palm.

“I’m not sick. I must just be dehydrated or something.”

“Or something.” I hated the way Harrison eyed me up and down, like he somehow had any idea about the complex thoughts spinning around in my head surrounding today and the engagement. He didn’t know me at all. We were essentially strangers. He’d made sure of that every time he turned down any attempt I’d made to try to get to know him. Now we were just unwilling acquaintances, forced together by mutual friends.

Oliver sauntered up the driveway and I was left with no choice but to follow, Harrison trailing closely behind me.

“They said no gifts.” Harrison pointed to the pink and white striped present clutched to my chest.

“Oh, um. It’s for Charlie.”

“Nathan can just buy her anything she wants. What’s the point?” he asked, tactlessly pointing out that Nathan had more money than the rest of us could even fathom. Being a tech genius and starting a successful dating app in your twenties was apparently a fantastic way to never have to want for anything ever again. Harrison reached out to touch the ribbon I’d carefully tied into an ornate bow, but I jerked the package away before he could make contact.

“Money can’t buy everything.” I didn’t bother to keep my tone polite.

“Let me guess. A collage? Or a painting of the two of you, perhaps?”

“No,” I said, quickening my pace to reach the door and get into the house where I could hopefully avoid Harrison’s negative attitude for the rest of the evening. The most irritating part was that, once again, he wasn’t far off.

Like the cheesy person I was, I’d made Charlie a scrapbook full of our memories together, one that told our whole story. It held the first picture we’d ever taken together, at an office happy hour when we’d started working at the same company. It also held the picture we’d taken a few months ago in our new, modest office, where we ran our successful meetup app, ConnectHer, designed to connect like-minded women. I thought it’d be a sweet way to commemorate that phase of her life as she catapulted into the next one with Nathan. But now, holding it, it felt a little childish.

I launched myself up the front steps just in time to reach Oliver as Charlie swung open the door.

“Yay, you’re all here.” She practically glowed as she pulled Oliver in for a hug before throwing her arms around me.

“You look beautiful,” I said into her ear.

“Positively radiant,” Oliver agreed, grinning. He was right. Charlie’s skin popped against her chiffon dress, one that was just as much a soft gray as it was white. Her wild hair had been pulled half up into a braid, while the rest flowed loosely down her back. The smile she wore was positively infectious, and I felt my nerves from earlier slowly start to disintegrate as excitement took over.

“Harrison. Thanks for coming.” Charlie gave a small wave in his direction.

He nodded. “Thanks for having me.”

I wanted to shoot him a glare, irritated that he was apparently capable of having civil interactions with every person except me.

“I can’t believe we’re months away from making this official.” Oliver sighed and grabbed Charlie’s shoulders.

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “It’s not like it’ll be that different.”

We all filed into the foyer of their stunning vintage craftsman, with a large front porch and a completely remodeled interior that still paid homage to the original architectural detailing. While one might think it was modest, considering the amount of money Nathan had, a house like this one in this area of Denver was not cheap. Even more so when you realized, despite the wall-to-wall maple floors that appeared to be original, there wasn’t a single squeaky plank. That was a sign of wealth if I ever saw one.

“Keep your shoes on. Nathan is on the back patio with Ben and Skylar, and we’ve got everything set up there,” Charlie instructed us.

“Oh, they’re already here?” I asked, trying to sound disinterested.

“Yeah, they had the babysitter all evening, so they stopped by the restaurant to pick up the takeout order for me.”

“I could have done that for you,” I offered as we padded through the formal living room that Charlie had turned into a room for her cat Edward. I’d laughed when I’d first seen it; only Charlie would take what was supposed to be a classy sitting room and line it with every cat tower and scratching post she could find.

“It was just easier this way. Besides, I’m sure I’ll have more tasks for you to do as my maid of honor.” She nudged my arm and grinned.

“Right, of course. Anything you need,” I said.

“Suck up.” Harrison ducked his head and whispered so that only I could hear.

He was right. I was sucking up. Which was ridiculous and unnecessary, considering Charlie was my best friend, but what no one tells you is that when your best friend gets engaged, they also get a whole new set of extended family and friends. Ben was Nathan’s college roommate and business partner, and Skylar was his wife. Charlie and Skylar had been spending more and more time together lately, and I felt like the ugliest soul alive for being a little jealous of that. I was terrified of waking up one day and realizing I had become a stranger to someone I once called a close friend.

Oliver slung an easy arm around my shoulder as he led us out the back door.

“You okay?” he asked. And just like that I felt ridiculous about my intrusive thoughts. I fit into this group just fine.

When we passed the kitchen, I set my present on the island. The last thing I wanted was for her to open it in front of the group so I could get even more grief from Harrison.

“I’m great.” I squeezed Oliver’s waist and gave him my brightest smile.

Charlie opened the sliding glass door to the patio and eyed us. “Now if you two could stop pretending you’re just friends and get together already, we can all be a family,” she said.

“Maybe we’ll make a marriage pact,” Oliver suggested. “Lila, if we’re still single at forty, let’s tie the knot.”

“No offense, but I think I’d let my parents try arranging my marriage before I reach forty without any prospects.”

Harrison groaned. “That’s disgusting to joke about. You two have total sibling energy. It would be borderline incestuous.”

If I’m so similar to your best friend, then why the hell do you hate me so much? I wanted to snap, but I kept my mouth shut.

But as frustrating as Harrison was, he was right again. Because despite loving Oliver as a friend, there had never been anything even remotely close to a romantic spark between the two of us. Probably because we were too similar; we both relished the carefree side of life and tended to push deeper, more meaningful conversations to the backburner. Not exactly a good basis for a relationship with substance.

Charlie and Nathan’s backyard had been transformed with hundreds of dainty twinkle lights strung up on poles, making the already-picturesque space look magical. We were still in the city, so their property wasn’t massive, but considering the postage stamp I called a yard, this stone patio with an outdoor kitchen that stretched onto a perfectly manicured green lawn might as well have been the Garden of Versailles.

Nathan, Skylar, and Ben stood talking in a semi-circle, but looked up when we all spilled out of the door.

“Brother!” Oliver called, before pulling Nathan into a hug and clapping his back a few times. Nathan returned the hug easily. Anyone who saw those two could immediately identify them as brothers. They were nearly the exact same height—freakishly tall—and had the same dark hair and features, though the same features that looked stern on Nathan’s serious face, his straight nose and expressive eyebrows, somehow looked boyish and relaxed on Oliver’s.

“Hi, Nathan. Congrats again.” I reached out and squeezed his arm.

“Thanks, Lila.” He nodded and shot me a quick smile before I stepped out of the way to let him and Harrison shake hands.

It felt like it hadn’t been that long since Nathan had called me up out of the blue. I remember I’d been sitting on my couch, scrolling through the endless movie choices, when his name flashed across my phone. My initial reaction had been panic. Nathan and I did not have a talking-on-the-phone type of relationship. I’d answered in a hurry, worried about Charlie, only for him to ask me to go ring shopping with him.

We’d gone the following week. A best friend waits her whole life for that moment. I knew exactly what Charlie wanted, thanks to a few wine-induced late nights on Pinterest. I’d had to talk him down in price several times, convincing him that Charlie would be stressed out wearing such an expensive ring every day.

I glanced at Charlie’s ring finger now, taking in the simple emerald-cut diamond ring. It was perfect.

“Lila! It’s so good to see you.” Skylar offered me a quick one-armed hug, as she was holding a glass of wine in the other hand. She had one of those perpetually youthful faces, round and vibrant. She’d probably still get carded in her forties.

“I’m good. How are you? How’s your little girl?” I asked.

She glanced up at her husband, Ben, before shaking her head. They smiled at each other like they had a secret I could never be in on.

“She’s perfect. I mean, she isn’t sleeping through the night, and I’m more exhausted than I’ve ever been in my entire life, but she’s perfect.”

“What about you, Ben?” I asked, directing my attention to her husband. Benjamin Mead was ridiculously attractive, with that old-Hollywood movie star look about him. “How’s retired life treating you?”

Ben had only recently given up his position as CEO of the dating app Nathan and he had started. Nathan had stepped down when he and Charlie first got together; since she’d technically been his employee, their relationship had been strictly prohibited. Both Nathan and Ben still sat on the board, though.

His lip curved up. “I’d hardly call it retired. I’m already trying to get Nathan to invest in this new app idea with me. But it’s good. I’m glad I have more time to spend at home.”

Skylar rolled her eyes. “He can never stop. I swear, one free minute and he’s got a computer out, building a spreadsheet.”

“I wish I could say that I didn’t relate, but sometimes it feels like my laptop is permanently attached to me as well.” I shrugged, smiling at her. I liked Skylar, I really did. The slight jealousy I felt any time she and Charlie had plans that didn’t include me was completely unwarranted and petty.

“How’s ConnectHer doing? Nathan just mentioned you and Charlie were working on something big.”

I filled Ben in on the details of our most recent round of funding and the app updates we were hoping to launch before year end. The speech was so rehearsed I could recite it on command. My job—our company—meant a lot to me. Charlie and I had built it from nothing, and no one could ever take that away from us. Maybe that was why I chose to pour so much of myself into it. My time. My energy. Sometimes I told myself it was the reason for my nonexistent love life, but I knew that work wasn’t entirely to blame.

Technically, my position was Chief Marketing Officer, but I did everything under the sun to ensure ConnectHer had a solid, growing brand. Sometimes, I’d wake out of a dead sleep just to jot down an idea, or to add a task to my never-ending to-do list. Charlie frequently asked me if I wanted to bring on someone at a higher level who could take some of the toppling items off of my full plate. But I knew myself. I could do it.

“Could everyone have a seat?” Charlie asked, standing at the head of the table with Nathan.

Smiling politely at Ben, I stepped away, grateful to have the excuse to drop the conversation. Ben had launched into a line of questioning about our finances, and while I wasn’t oblivious about the details, we’d hired finance and accounting professionals for a reason.

The table was beautifully set, with a white runner down the middle and vases with green eucalyptus leaves in the center. The plates were terracotta and looked handmade. I settled into the seat next to Charlie. I expected Oliver—or Skylar, or anyone else—to take the seat next to mine, but I wasn’t that lucky. Harrison pulled out the chair instead and sat down heavily, not glancing at me in the process.

“Great,” I muttered.

“What was that?” He leaned in.

“Nothing at all.” I smiled at him, knowing he didn’t buy my sweet charade for a minute. But the funny thing was, even if my smile toward him was fake at the moment, I wanted to be nice to Harrison. All he would have to do was give me the faintest hint of a smile, or ask me how I liked the weather, and I’d have jumped at any chance of civility. If there was one thing I despised more than anything, it was being disliked. Especially by someone with whom I came into such frequent contact.

The sound of a knife tapping against a glass alerted us all to Nathan trying to get our attention. He looked a lot more comfortable in this setting than any other. His chin wasn’t tipped down, and his eyes weren’t brooding. He even had a soft smile on his lips as he glanced down at Charlie.

“I’m not one for toasts. But I just wanted to thank you all for coming. As you know, we didn’t want any extravagant wedding festivities where we’d have to make small talk with people we barely know and haven’t seen in years. We just wanted to celebrate with our closest friends.”

“I, for one, am thrilled to be here,” Oliver said, raising his glass. “I never in a million years thought I would be celebrating my brother’s engagement.”

“Me either. It’s a miracle, honestly,” Harrison added.

Nathan scowled at the two of them.

Ben chuckled and said, “I’ve known this guy since college, and I thought he was celibate for the longest time, until I walked in on him and his lab partner one night.”

“Do we really have to bring up the past?” Nathan asked.

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when someone decides to get married? Break out all their old stories to embarrass them?” Ben pointed out.

“If you do it in front of Charlie, I’ll kill you,” Nathan deadpanned.

Charlie laughed and nudged Nathan’s shoulder. He immediately softened.

“Anyway,” Charlie continued. “Since we have you all here, we wanted to make a little announcement.” She looked at me excitedly and I tilted my head in curiosity.

Nathan watched Charlie like she was the only person here; like she was the only person who mattered. Seeing them so happy together simultaneously brought a huge smile to my face and made my heart do a little anxious skitter.

Would that type of love ever find me? The number of dates I had been on in the past year alone could fill a Starbucks. That might not sound like a lot, but it certainly felt like too many when I could remember sitting down with every single one of them and exchanging awkward pleasantries. Sometimes it even took three dates before they ghosted me, or I realized we had nothing in common despite trying desperately to convince myself that we did.

The truth was, I wasn’t good at being single. I didn’t know how to date. I had wasted years on my high school sweetheart. Did I still have to use that term now that he’d turned out to be a raging asshole? I had wanted that relationship to work out so badly that I’d ignored the gigantic tote bag of red flags he carried around. Even when he would occasionally drop one, and someone like a friend or my parents would pick it up and wave it in my face, I’d still pretend they didn’t exist.

And then, once I finally got out, I’d had no interest in dating. I’d longed to be by myself, with no one tracking my movements or trying to bring me down.

Which all meant that when I’d dived headfirst into the dating world a couple of years ago, expecting to meet my perfect match after kissing a few frogs, I hadn’t been prepared for just how hard it would be.

“—and we’re taking you all on a trip!”

Skylar gasped and clasped her hands excitedly while Oliver gave a whoop at the other end of the table. I realized I had been zoning out and tried to catch up on whatever announcement Charlie had made that I missed.

“Neither of us wanted a bachelor or a bachelorette party, so we figured a little trip with our favorite people was exactly how we wanted to celebrate.”

“Where are we going?” Ben asked.

“That’s a surprise.” Charlie looked at us all mischievously. “You’ll find out the day we leave. Of course, I’ll provide a packing list and all the information you’ll need.”

“This is on you, right, bro?” Oliver clapped once and pointed a finger at Nathan, who rolled his eyes.

“Of course.”

“Yes, don’t worry about any of that. We’re inviting you, so of course it’s our treat.” Charlie waved her hands. “But this is why I asked you all what weekends you had free.”

“That’s going to be so much fun!” I exclaimed once I had put it all together.

Harrison groaned softly next to me, and I shot him a dirty look. He had the audacity to raise an eyebrow and mouth, “What?” before I turned away to resume ignoring him.

“A trip sounds amazing,” I continued, letting the excitement build in my chest. I never got to go away; sometimes it felt like work was my only meaningful personality trait.

A vacation was exactly what I needed.