Your typical slow-burn, friends-to-lovers trope, with a dash of manipulative dysfunctional family issues, and quite a bit of angst.
....
Ivelyn Cadwell, by all definitions, should've been happy. She was successful, had a mother and father who could support her every whim, and a bank account to support her for the rest of her life.
She hates herself precisely because she isn't.
Mallory, a telemarketer, on the other hand, had every right to despair. Abandoned by his mother at seven, and losing the foster family he finally learned to trust at twenty, Mal should've, rationally, fallen to the dark tendrils of depression, and yet, he hasn't.
Mal's happy. He swears he is.
And then Ivelyn picked up his call.
Sick of third wheeling her best friends who have somehow all gotten into a relationship over the span of the last three months, Michelle Holmes finds herself commiserating with schoolmate Caledon Brightwell over their similar plights in life at work one day.
His friends, much like hers, have taken to turning group outings into triple dates--where she's always the odd one out.
In the middle of their complaining session, they hit on the perfect solution to their problems: they can just date each other. After all, deciding to get together was exactly how their friends started their relationships. Not that she has any idea how dating is supposed to work, but at least she finally has a boyfriend.
Too bad her friends aren't impressed, but it's not her fault that they can't appreciate her genius.
The easiest way not to third wheel on a group date is to have a date of your own, right?
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Updates on Wednesdays and Fridays. (third person, slowburn)
You can read up to 7 advance chapters on my Patreon (link in my bio!), and the free/released chapters are also available for viewing on Patreon like on Wattpad. :)
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+ "What do you mean 'it's not as simple as just declaring that we're together'?!"