Changing Scenes (Changing Teams #2) by Jennifer Allis Provost Read Free Book Online Page B

my apartment for a shower and change of clothes, I met her at Catalonia, also known as Sam and Britt’s love nest.
    “You make it sound like we did it on the bar,” Britt said, when I told her my nickname for Catalonia. “All he did was return my jacket.”
    “And you two spent how many hours here afterward?” I asked. “Drinking wine and eating oysters and such?”
    “Shut up,” Britt said, tossing her napkin at me. “Anyway, Sam and I looked at a ton of places for our studio. We even looked at some land a little ways north of the city.”
    “Plain old land?” I asked. “Would that be for outdoor sessions?”
    “For us to build on,” Britt replied. “You know, a custom studio from scratch.”
    “Wouldn’t that be expensive?” In my opinion, a ready-made building would be cheaper, and easier, to obtain.
    “Sam thinks building our own place might be a good option,” Britt explained, and launched into a cost benefit analysis complete with possible tax implications. All this talk of expenses got me thinking about my own, so I grabbed my phone and accessed the calculator. If I made at least one hundred per shift, times three shifts per week, I’d have enough for Visa Number One and Number Two’s payment, with some cash left over for—
    “Texting Donnie?” Britt asked with a smirk.
    “Maybe.” Normally I was straight up with Britt about everything, but I didn’t want her knowing about my side job. I mean, since it was a temporary gig until John unwound and started booking me again, soon enough there’d be nothing to tell.
    “I can’t believe he took you to a midnight market,” Britt said. “That’s so romantic.”
    I wrinkled my nose. “You would have liked it there, all weird seafood and funky shelled creatures.”
    “Would you do it again?”
    Before I could reply, a text came through.
     
    Donato: Babe.
     
    Astrid: Yes?
     
    Donato: Miss you.
     
    Astrid: Miss you too.
     
    Britt leaned across the table, read Donnie’s and my mushy exchange and smiled. “Aww, you miss each other.”
    “Oh, hush,” I said, but I was smiling when I said it. “Like you’re not missing Sam right now.”
    “Of course I miss him,” Britt said. “But Sam’s the love of my life. Donnie’s fresh meat and all.”
    “Fresh meat?” I repeated, and Britt laughed. “I’m so telling him you said that.”
    “You know what I mean,” Britt said. “So, you like him? Going to see him again?”
    “Yes, and yes,” I replied. I swiped to my pictures, and to the one of him and me taken right before we left the fish market. Even though it had been freezing, and we were both exhausted, we were grinning ear to ear. I slid my phone toward Britt, and said, “This is us at ugly o’clock, on our way to get some breakfast.”
    “You look happy,” Britt said. “Happier than I’ve seen you in a while.”
    I bit my lip; were my problems changing me? Was I really so obvious? “Yeah, he makes me happy,” I said, and realized it was the truth. Donnie made me very happy. “Maybe as happy as Sam makes you.”
    Britt raised her eyebrows. “Really?”
    I looked at the picture of him and me again, and smiled. “Yeah, really.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Ten
     
     
    Astrid
     
    Donato: Tomorrow’s Thursday.
     
    Astrid: I was aware of that, Mr. Calendar.
     
    Donato: Fresh.
     
    Astrid: ;)
     
    Donato: Want to go to the market again?
     
    Astrid: Love to.
     
    Donato: Awesome.
     
    Donato: Pick you up at 12:30.
     
    Astrid: I’ll be waiting.
     
    ***
     
    Donnie rolled up at twelve-thirty on the dot in the restaurant van. I wondered if any of my neighbors were watching, speculating about all these midnight trips I was going on. Then again, since the restaurant’s logo was painted on the side, they probably thought I was a waitress.
    Little did they know that I was a waitress, just not at any place half as nice as Thirty-Nine and Twelve.
    I hopped in the van and saw Donnie holding a travel mug. “Hey,