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I snapped the glass down on the countertop. “What the heck is going on? I knew something was up, but I figured you’d come talk to me when you were ready.”
I stared at the ceiling. Goddess, I was a shitty friend.
“Yeah, well, I’m not ready. For any of it.”
I opened the fridge and took out a stem of grapes and leftover watermelon. I desperately needed something in my stomach besides tequila. “You’re not making sense.”
“I know.” She blew out a breath. “I did something.”
I put the grapes down. “Like bank robbery? Murder?” I lowered my voice in case the neighbors could hear. “Do I need to bring my shovel? Go buy supplies in cash three counties over?”
She was my best bish. I would totally bury a body for her. In a hot second.
Ryan’s laugh came through the speaker. “No, there’s no body.”
“Remember that little white fox I used to draw on everything?”
“Of course. I still have it on my journal. I paid some kid on Etsy to make me stickers of it. You’re welcome.”
She laughed. “You did not.”
I popped a grape in my mouth. “I sure did. I hoarded them in my keepsake box. My bestie’s artwork is priceless.”
“Aww.” Ryan sniffed a little. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“That’s what best friends do, girl.”
She sighed. “Well, I did something stupid last night. I actually posted one of my comics on a story. You know those quick twenty-four hour things. I figured it would just go away, and no one would really notice.”
I took my fruit and water over to my couch and curled into the corner next to my speaker. “You know the universe doesn’t work like that.”
She let out a strangled laugh. “That is the truth.”
“So, did you blow up the internet?” I picked out a fat triangle of watermelon.
“Kind of. Penn Masterson reposted it to his bazillion followers, then he sort of slid into my DMs.”
She kept babbling about names and people I didn’t really know, but finally, the name clicked in. Masterson was sort of a big deal around here. Although he lived in New York City, Penn had a sister and a bunch of brothers who lived in town. That bunch included Christian, our favorite cop, who kept crashing our rooftop parties—and not in the fun way. I’d overheard people talking about Penn at Kinleigh’s store, and I was familiar with one of his graphic novels.
“No way! So, that dude you made me read—Penn Masterson—he contacted you? The famous dude?”
“Yes.” Her voice was a squeak. Very unlike Ry.
“This is amazing!” My girl was going to be freaking famous.
“No, it’s really not. I’m not ready. I can’t do this.”
“Of course you can. You’re a kickass goddess who can do freaking anything. Let me come over, and we can talk about this.” I started to heft my tired butt off my couch. “We can throw some cards and drink lots of wine. I’ll be a buffer between you and Rainbow.”
I’d done it plenty of times. I liked her mother, to be truthful, but I knew she could be a bit much for Ryan.
“Thanks. I think I just need to get out of here. Go think about it. Maybe go through my drawings and fix them up.”
I rolled my eyes. The curse of the perfectionist best friend. I could practically hear her brain moving a mile a minute. I also knew when she was in supreme avoidance. That was the trouble with knowing one another so well—and why I hadn’t really wanted to talk about my stuff either.
“Okay, I get that. But is there something else going on? What did PMS do?” I stood up. “I’ll kill him.”
Her laugh came through the speaker. A more natural one that made me feel better.
