Jordyn: I’m coming over when you get off work. We’re having a sleepover.
Quinn: You don’t have to come over. I’m fine. I promise.
Jordyn: I know I don’t have to, but I want to. Besides, I only have so much time with you before Xander comes home and hogs all your attention.
Sure enough,when Roman and I enter, she’s waiting for me in the lobby of my building, chatting with Frank like they are besties, while Caleb stands guard. As soon as Jordyn sees me, she lights up and waves goodbye to Frank before she latches onto my arm.
“I know this is ridiculous, but I never had slumber parties as a kid because my dad was a terrible excuse for a parent, so I’m way more excited than I should be.” Jordyn ignores our guards like they’re not even there, even though between the two of them, they take up over half of the elevator.
I’ve never had a slumber party, either. The only kind of sleepover I had with other kids was the few times my mom took us to a shelter when we literally had no roof over our heads. Butthose places have strict no-drug policies, so that ended pretty quickly.
“Isn’t Cash going to be upset that you’re not home? He doesn’t strike me as the type to be okay with you not sleeping in bed with him.”
Jordyn bursts out laughing at that as we close ourselves into the privacy of my apartment after Roman and Calebbothdid a sweep as if they think the boogeyman is going to jump out at them. I find it comical that Cash is just as overprotective of Jordyn as Xander is of me.
She throws her oversized bag onto the counter in my kitchen and starts pulling out drink ingredients.
“Do you mind if I make cherry mojitos? Do you want one?”
I smile and kick off my shoes, then use a ponytail holder from my wrist to put my hair up in a big pineapple bun. “None for me. I’m too tired. Sorry to burst your bubble, but this is probably going to be a lame slumber party.”
Not only do I still not have any furniture, but I don’t even have snacks.
As if she can read my thoughts, Jordyn pulls out a gold bag of gummy bears along with a bag of popcorn. “Girl, it’s going to be fabulous. We’ll veg out in your bed and watch a movie. You don’t have to be awake for me to talk to you. Besides, I’m sure my husband will show up at some point to make me come home. He’s playing poker tonight.”
Every time I hang out with Jordyn, she continues to surprise me. She grew up in luxury, buried in piles of money, yet she doesn’t blink an eye as she climbs into bed with me in my thrifted metal-framed bed, with mismatched sheets and a dozen different kinds of pillows.
Instead, she hugs one to her chest and sighs contentedly. “It’s so cozy in here. This bed is like something you’d see in a fairytale. It’s magical. I love it.”
We pass the candy back and forth, chatting about random things here and there.
“Have you seen your mom since she’s been moved?” Jordyn asks.
I shake my head, the weight of that question settling in the pit of my stomach again. “No. I feel like I need to. I should. It’s just?—”
“Why do you need to? You don’t owe her anything. You know that, right?”
My mouth opens, but no words come out.
Why do I need to?
Because she’s my mom. It’s the right thing to do… isn’t it?
“Please don’t take offense to this, but fuck her. Just because she’s your blood, doesn’t mean she’s your family. It doesn’t mean youhaveto do anything. Family is the people you choose. And who choose you.” She bumps me in the shoulder with hers as if to make a point.
She wouldn’t even know whether I visit her or not. And if she did, I don’t know that she would even care. I was always a burden to her. The reason she couldn’t keep a job. The reason we were always so broke. It was always my fault. Why would that change now?
“Just remember, no matter what happens,” she says as she gets comfortable against a mound of pillows again. “You’re part of our family now, and we have your back.”
DayThirty
Something startles me awake.I’m not sure what it is, but it takes me a second to remember that Jordyn was here when I fell asleep, but she’s not in bed next to me now.
Silence is the only thing I hear as I lie in the dark with my eyes barely open, the scent of Xander’s shirt comforting me.
It seems stronger than usual. Fresh.
I immediately sit up and look toward the corner of the room where my only chair in the house, which I’ve kept clear of clothes for the past twenty-nine days, is no longer empty.
