“Whoa, that is smutty.”
“I know. I’ve been reading too much lately.”
“Whose books?”
Her cheeks blush. “Oh, um, just the group’s. Now that I’m a new member of the… friends... I thought... I should support them all. You know.”
I pull my gaze from the house to really observe my friend. She starts to pick at her salad, but her hands are shaking.
“Is everything okay?”
“Oh yeah, why?”
I tilt my head and smile.
“Are you crushing on someone from the group? Is it Tobias? No, it’s Graham, isn’t it? God, he’s so quiet, but I could see it. I totally could.”
“No, I’m not crushing on anyone from the group.”
“Hmm, well, I’ll have to take your word for it. Tobias is totally in love with Natalie, and Graham is probably too quiet for you, and that leaves my brother who—” I laugh before I can even think of what to say. “Is my brother. I can’t even think about it.”
Honestly, my brother is great. I just can’t think of him dating again because—movement catches my eyes.
“Oh, he’s on the move!” Greer says quickly, snapping the lid onto her salad.
I cheer and hand her my salad box. “Should we follow him?”
Greer laughs. “I really want to, butIstill have a job and I want to keep it, so you should probably take me back soon.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
I wait until Beck is down the street, and then I turn on my car and head downtown.
“It is cool if I hang out for a bit?” I ask.
Greer is right. I really need to get a job. I can’t keep hanging out with them. The last two weeks have been fun-ish, but I do need to figure things out.
“Of course. Willa and I love having you around. Everything is so clean when you’re there.”
“Enough to put me on payroll?” I tease.
“I wish.”
“Me too.”
As soon as I pull up in front of Willa’s studio, Greer excuses herself to walk to the post office, so I head inside and instantly spot the new decor on her walls.
“You should switch those pictures,” I say. Willa is reading something on her iPad. “That way, as people walk in and when they leave, they have a motivational quote.”
She lowers her device and smiles at me. “So, what you’re really saying is that I should have let you decorate this place when I moved in.”
I laugh. “No, it just occurred to me.”
“Uh, huh. The same way the position of my desk lets me view the street just perfectly, but the sunrise and sunset won’t cast a glare on my computer screen at any time of day. Or the way the weights are set up, or the way the mirror is placed to avoid bad lighting, or the way—”
“I like to stage things, okay. Is that a bad thing?”
“Nope. Not at all. In fact, I think you should start your own business.”
