21
Alex
Once we finished our food, Hannah asked excitedly if she could go out on the pier to feed the fish the end of her bun.
Unable to deny the sweet child anything she wanted, I quickly agreed and she darted off. Josie’s face was buried in her phone as she perused the wide selection of romance novels I had for sale in the k****e store.
My cheeks burned hot in a rare physical show of embarrassment as she read some of the more risqué titles and one-clicked to purchase a few. I was already regretting my decision to share my secret pen name with her. The idea of her reading those stories––many of them sharing details of real and intimate moments I’ve shared with Claire––made me physically cringe.
“They’re fiction,” I reminded her, even though many parts of them weren’t.
“I know,” she
