“Food, drinks, makeup, movies.”
Blithe jumped in, “Cleaning supplies.” Blithe worked at the Donner Bakery and liked things neat and tidy. She’d come to the wrong place.
I grumbled.
Gretchen propped her hands on her hips. “Don’t sound so pleased. We want to help.”
“But why?”
“That’s what friends do.”
“No ex left behind,” Roxy added.
I blinked. Frowned. Blinked again. I guess I hadn’t thought about it much. I’d spent a lot of time with them. At first, because Ford made me. And then I’d started to like it. I liked being girly and not having to worry about being sexy. I liked that we were all so different but had things in common and could talk about anything. I guess I thought they were all above me and took me in because Gretchen made them. I never thought they saw me as one of them. Not for a second.
“Oh,” was all I could manage.
“I don’t like seeing you like this.” Blithe’s voice was full of worry.
“I’m having a bit of a hard time at the moment.”
“Well, get over it,” Gretchen snapped.
My mouth fell open and then I got angry. Really angry. How dare she come in here and invade my space and tell me that I just needed to get over it. Who the hell did she think she was?
“Oh, okay. Why didn’t I think of that? Wow. Thanks. I’m better.” I pulled the pillow back over my head. “Go. Away!”
“We’ll wait outside,” Roxy said.
Steps retreated down the short hall.
Gretchen poked my side. “Please sit up.”
“I’m mad at you.”
“I’m mad at you too,” she snapped.
I sat up but kept the hoodie secured so only my face poked out. I knew she’d already seen my hair, but I didn’t want to see the pity on her face again. I just wanted to be alone and sleep. “You’re mad at me?”
She crossed her arms and sniffed. “Yes. You’re freaking me out. You aren’t taking care of yourself and I don’t like to see people I care about treated like crap. Especially when they’re doing it to themselves.”
“Sorry, I’ve had just a little bit going on.”
“I know. Listen, I know. And it was horrible what happened. But I care about you, you crazy person. I like that you lit a motorcycle on fire and that you pole dance. I like you. I don’t like what all these men in your life are doing to you.”
“What’s to like?”
“Seriously? Normally, I wouldn’t indulge this pity party but I’m starting to seriously worry you don’t know what you bring to the table.”
“No, I know. Bad manners.”
“Shut it down. No. Can you look at me? Listen. You are a fucking badass. Time and time again life has knocked you down and you’ve gotten back up. You’ve got compassion for people who don’t deserve you. You stand up for what’s right. You’ve got gumption I’ve never seen in anybody else. I knew we’d be kindred spirits the moment I swung a bat at your daddy.”
Her words settled in. She liked me. For me. I’d assumed she hung around because she liked the dance lessons and maybe because of our shared history. I didn’t think there was much to like about me. I was so sad and lonely and now with her here I wanted to unload all of it.
“I don’t know what to do. I feel like nothing matters. It’s only a matter of time before the Black Demons come for me and I have to start…it’s not going to be good.”
“That is not going to happen.” She tried to push back my hood. “We’ll figure something out.”
