“Thank you for being here. For being my best friend,” I blubber as my face is smushed between her boobs once again.
“Ditto, babe.” She strokes my hair.
“So what do we do next? Kane and I need to start looking for what’s available to rent in the area.” I watch her walk around and grab her dish along with mine, then put them in the sink.
She comes and sits down across from me. “Why doesn’t he just move in here?”
“Morgan, I’m not kicking you out of your own house,” I reply astonished.
“You’re not kicking me out. Besides, this house just suits you two. The built-in bookcases, the original 1930s build. It was practically made for you.”
“But what about you? Where will you go?” I pick at my fingers as I think of displacing her from her own house.
“I want to look around and be sure. Maybe I’ll move into Kane’s room in the meantime while I look.” She throws it out like it’s nothing.
I freeze at the mention of her being willing to move in with Marcus.
“You want to move in with Marcus?” I hesitate.
“I mean, not particularly. Do I want to potentially catch whatever he’s caught? No. But it’s cheap, and I really don’t want to keep relying on my father. I want to try to make it on my own. There’s this cute storefront on Main that I have been eyeing. Maybe it’s finally time I open the bookstore.”
Morgan has always dreamed of being surrounded by books. She and I bonded over our love of romance and someday meeting our Prince Charming. We always have Tuesday night book club, just the two of us, which is just us discussing the books we read that week and laughing.
“Morgan, you should! You’ve been saying for years you want to, and your trust is enough to get it off the ground,” I squeal, excitement coursing through me at the idea of my best friend getting to live out her dream.
“Maybe. It’s a lot to think about. And with Queen Olivia getting married, it might be nice to have somewhere familiar to stay.”
Queen Olivia is the nickname we gave her older sister Olivia—the golden child of the family who can do no wrong. Morgan, meanwhile, has been labeled the black sheep for wanting out of her family dynamic.
“Are you sure? We don’t have to rush anything. You canstay here until you’re ready.” I search my best friend’s face, hoping she’s being honest. The thought of finally getting to live with Kane has butterflies erupting in my stomach.
“I’m more than sure. I’m excited for you. And I can survive Marcus for a few months. Plus, it might be fun to move in just to fuck with him a bit. Cock-block him constantly or something.” She smirks as she says it.
I laugh at her and Marcus’s nonstop antics. I can’t wait until she finally admits she has feelings for him. Those two have been dancing around each other for years, the push and pull tension so evident even someone with vision impairment would be able to notice.
“How do you feel?” she asks, thinking I won’t notice her change in subject from herself.
“I’m excited,” I beam. “I think this is everything I have ever wanted. I can’t imagine waking up with him every morning, knowing he’s mine and that this is the life I get to live. It feels bigger, moving in together, even though we usually don’t spend a night apart. We’re going to adopt a dog too. Did I tell you about Roo?” I ask, taking out my phone and going to my ever-growing album of shelter dogs. The forty photos I took of Roo today fill my screen, and one of him attacking Kane quickly became my new background photo. This tall, tattooed man being taken down by the cutest puppy is almost too much for my heart to handle.
“Shut up! Roo is the cutest puppy I have seen in such a long time. I’m so happy for you. You deserve this, you know. You deserve to hold onto this happiness and ride it out. You’ve found someone who is obsessed with you, who would do anything for you,” she finishes wistfully.
“I’m going to miss you, though. We had some amazing years in this house.” I reach over and grab her hands.
“We did, and this isn’t over. We have so many morememories to make together,” she says back to me, both of us misty eyes.
We both laugh and get up from the table. I send a quick text to Kane that I’m going to stay here and spend time with Morgan tonight. We sit on the couch and turn on our favorite reality show at the moment, the ridiculousness of the plot making our stomachs hurt with how hard we’re laughing, filling the room between us and reminding me just how full my life is with all the family I have been able to surround myself with.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
kane
Robbers – The 1975
“Thanks, Mr. D,” Sam says, sitting across from me.
“I know how it is, trust me. When you live in a functional dynamic with an absentee father and an emotionally immature mother, it puts a lot of pressure on you to be the caretaker of the house. The one who must be responsible for everyone else’s emotions, walking on eggshells to avoid a blowup of any kind. You make yourself so hyperaware of every shifting emotion that you try to predict what could happen next. But you deserve to go to the school of your dreams and live the life you want. You do not owe your parents your future just because they may need you.” I rest my elbows on the desk, watching her carefully to make sure she hears me.
Sam is a strong student, and she was able to secure a full scholarship to an out-of-state college on the West Coast—in English lit—and has been in my office for days ruminating over her acceptance and how her parents have handled it. It’s been jarring to have a mirror reflection of my ownparents staring back at me, but it gives me the right background to guide her moving forward. To remind her that she still has time to heal, to move beyond them, to find herself and be her own person.
