Chapter 144

EMILIA

“Where do I put this?” Tessa lifts up a heavy-looking stuffed animal, and it takes me a second of squinting to realize what it is. One of the ones I won on that so-called date with Liam. The one to the amusement park with that gorgeous restaurant in it.

I smile and take it from her. “I’ll hold onto it.”

Dinner’s out of the way—which only confirmed Aaron really does have some defect in his tastebuds because it was horrible, but still the most edible thing Tessa’s ever made. Now we’re back to packing. Or pretending to, while I try to figure out how to tell her I’m moving in with Liam.

“So, I found this gorgeous house,” she says, sliding one of my books my way. “It has a pool. Huge backyard. Three bedrooms.”

I snort. “What are you gonna do with a backyard? Chase squirrels?”

She ignores me, because she’s Tessa. “We could finally have a guest room. Or a movie room. And it’s close to the bakery, so you could walk to work.”

I freeze, the pai