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“Yeah.”
“What is it?”
“Babe.”
“That’s what you call her. That’s not her name,” I snorted.
“Well, it still works, so what’s the difference?”
Jesus.
I wasn’t sure if I was annoyed or amused with Drew, but I definitely wasn’t feeling great about going back to the late-night life I used to live with him.
“Awesome. She just sent me a picture of her sister,” he said out of nowhere.
“What? Why would you ask her to send you a picture of her – ” I leaned back when Drew came over and shoved his phone in my face. “Awesome. Very cute. Now get your phone out of my face,” I said, though when he immediately obliged and walked away typing on his phone, I got suspicious. “What are you doing?”
“I told her you think her sister is awesome,” Drew grinned when he sat his ass back in his locker. “And she said she’s excited to meet you, so get excited, asshole. ‘Cause we’re going out tonight.”
35
ALY
Thanks to the lumpy bed at the motel, and the second job I’d picked up to pay for it, I was back to running on fumes.
I’d been away from this life for so long that it took awhile to settle back in. I’d genuinely forgotten what it was like to be so tired at work that my face felt numb, like I’d spent the morning at the dentist’s. I had gotten so quickly spoiled living in a big, beautiful house and sleeping on a big, heavenly mattress. The overnight change from luxury to dead flies stuck in fluorescent lights was jarring to say the least.
But I didn’t have a choice.
I was in survival mode, and I just needed to get through the summer. I needed to get through six more weeks by busting my ass at my night job, nabbing that nightly two hours of sleep and giving it my all at the restaurant every morning and day. It was probably going to come close to killing me, but if it meant I’d close out the season with good sales and better press, then it was worth it.
I was pretty sure of it, but Evie wasn’t quite as convinced.
“Please. Please stay over my house tonight. Mike said yes. I talked to him about it all night yesterday, so please,” she begged this morning, trailing me around the kitchen with her hands clasped together. “You can’t operate on two hours of sleep for the next month-and-a-half.”
“I did it before I wound up moving into his house.”
“Yeah, but you only had one job then. Two jobs with only two hours of sleep a night is different, and that difference is you collapsing one day in the middle of this kitchen.”
“Evie. It’s really not that bad. The job is easy and the motel is nice.”
“Then why haven’t you told me where you work or invited me to the motel?”
“Because,” I sassed, leaving it at that. I was giving Evie a lot of those answers lately and she was pretty unamused by it. Hands on her hips, she narrowed her eyes at me for a second.
“Well, since you don’t work your sketchy second job tonight, will you at least come over to hang out?” she asked.
“If I do, are you going to slash the tires to my car while I’m in the bathroom or something?” I asked.
“Dude, no.” Evie rolled her eyes. “I’d obviously get Mike to use the tire jack so he could remove them properly.”
“Haaa.”
“I wouldn’t want you to have to replace them! Do you know how much tires cost?”
I snorted, forcing myself to goof around with Evie for the rest of the shift because I couldn’t let her catch on to how completely exhausted and empty I felt inside.
It was hard to even be in the restaurant without thinking about Emmett. Honestly, it was hard to be anywhere without thinking about him. I had never been more angry, grateful, betrayed and heartbroken over someone in my life. I had never felt this many conflicting feelings at once and at night, it generally resulted in frustrated tears as I lay restless in bed.
