She Got 41 Tries, I Got Zero Seconds. So I Gave Myself a One-Way Ticket Out Chapter 02

She Got 41 Tries, I Got Zero Seconds. So I Gave Myself a One-Way Ticket Out Chapter 02

The moment we walked out of the boutique, a wave of heat hit us in the face.

Not far away, a long line had formed outside a TikTok-famous tea bar.

Blythe looked over, her voice full of disappointment. “Why is the line still so long? I really wanted one.”

Auden shoved the shopping bags into my hands. “You and Bly find a cafe and cool off. I’ll wait in line.”

Then he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

I had mentioned that same viral drink to Auden at least 20 times. I had told him I wanted to try it.

He had always said no drink was worth standing in a line that long.

But apparently, it was worth it when Blythe was the one asking.

When Auden came back, he was holding three drinks. His face was slick with sweat, droplets running down his temples and jaw.

I lowered my head and dug through my bag, trying to find a tissue for him.

When I looked up, my hand froze.

Blythe was already wiping the sweat from Auden’s face. She did it so naturally, as if she had practiced it a hundred times.

A moment later, Auden handed the first drink to Blythe. Then he handed one to me.

Blythe held her cup, paused, then reached over and touched mine.

“Auden,” she said sharply. “It’s this hot out, and you got Tamsin an iced drink, but mine has no ice? Are you trying to cook me alive? And here I was, feeling bad enough to wipe your sweat.”

Auden did not get annoyed. He only took a sip of his drink and said, “Don’t be ungrateful. You’re on your period and you still want ice? Did you forget how bad your cramps were last time?”

Two weeks ago, Auden had gotten off work early and ordered my favorite extra-spicy Cajun seafood boil.

I barely touched it, but he never noticed.

He had forgotten I was on my period, forgotten that spice would only make the cramps worse.

My pain slipped his mind.

Blythe’s never did.

I pushed the straw into my drink and took small sips. When the cup was almost empty, my body suddenly went stiff.

I looked up at Auden in shock.

Our eyes met. His gaze was blank. “What?”

“There’s mango in this.”

I was allergic to mango. The last time I accidentally ate something with mango in it, my throat swelled for half a month. Auden had stayed with me and eaten soft food for two weeks because I could not swallow properly.

He froze for a second, then grabbed my drink. He checked the label first, then shook the cup and looked at the bottom.

After a moment, he let out a breath. “Don’t worry. It’s just a little mango pulp. You’ll be fine.”

“This is so annoying.”

It was Blythe.

At some point, a stye had appeared on her eyelid. She was staring at her phone screen, complaining under her breath.

Auden took one step toward her and pulled her hand away from her face. “Don’t touch it. You’ll make it worse. I’ll take you to urgent care.”

For a stye on Blythe’s eye, Auden was ready to rush her to urgent care.

For the mango I had just swallowed, he only glanced at the cup and told me I’d be fine.

Auden had just led Blythe toward the exit when he stopped short. Outside, the sky had gone black, and rain hammered against the glass doors.

With the rain coming down like that, there was no way they could get to urgent care yet.

Auden suggested we watch a movie while waiting out the rain.

We took the escalator up and stopped in front of the movie posters outside Crownline Cinema.

Auden looked at me. “What do you want to watch?”

I pointed at a poster for a new release. “That one.”

“But I want to watch this.”

Blythe pointed to another movie.

Auden said nothing. He went straight to the ticket counter.

A moment later, he came back and handed me a ticket for Blythe’s movie.

Row 7, seat 12.

When the lights dimmed and the screen came on, I looked ahead and found them in the third row, right in the center, sitting side by side.

It was not the movie I wanted to see, so I barely watched it. I did not even follow the plot.

At the end, the whole screen faded to black. The words glowed across the black screen: [Are you sitting beside the person you love most?]

I looked to both sides, only to find empty seats on either side of me.

I wanted to ask Auden the same thing.

My phone buzzed again. It was Dr. Ames sending over the flight details for my departure in two days.