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Bronte: You’re hungover??
Laney: Who’d you drink with?
Gem: No blurry selfies or drunk messages to us? I’m mad about it.
Sam checked the time on her phone, almost eleven, before replying. Neighborhood picnic. Jimmy talked me into it.
Bronte: Jimmy as in your childhood bff?
Laney: Jimmy as in the guy Gem hooked up with whenever he came to visit you at Pitt?
Gem responded with a hair flip GIF.Is he still cute?
Sam groaned and sat up, her head ringing like a bell struck with a sledgehammer.Is no one going to summarize the previous texts for me?
That was when the FaceTime call request came through from Bronte. “It’s easier to recap this way,” she said once they were all on.
“Man, you did drink a lot last night,” Gem said, ever the truth-teller.
Sam brushed her hair away from her face. “Thanks. So, what’s happening?”
“Wait, before we start in on my life, let’s catch up with Sammy,” Laney said.
Sam reached for the glass of water she’d set on her nightstand before she fell into bed last night and gulped it down. “There’s nothing to catch up. I’m home. Gavin barely looks at me because he’s always texting his girlfriend. My dad is struggling to walk with his knee. I haven’t seen my mom yet. And, yes, Jimmy is still cute.”
Gem leaned into her screen. “Are you going to spend some time with cute Jimmy this summer?”
“Number one, no, because he’s like a brother to me, and number two, there are not enough degrees of separation between you and me.”
Gem wrinkled her nose at that.
“Is there someone else you’re going to be spending your time with?” Bronte asked, the usual hopeful tone in her voice.
“No.”
“Liar!” Laney pointed at the screen. “You touched your ear.”
Sam reflexively touched her earlobe. “I did not.”
“You did,” Bronte said, and Gem nodded in agreement.
Laney smiled. “Who is it?”
“What does he do?” Bronte asked.
Laney waved that question away. “What’s he look like?”
“How old is he?” Gem added.
Sam narrowed her eyes. “I hate you guys.”
“Yes. We know,” Gem said. “Please continue.”
“He’s thirty, he’s got dark hair and eyes and gives Bronte a run for her money with how pale he is. I’m not sure what he does now, but he was in the military. He was a Marine.”
“Ah, shit,” Laney mumbled, dropping her chin toward her chest. “Here she goes.”
“You’re serious?” Gem said, rolling her eyes. “The American military?” Before Sam could say anything, her best friend got out her metaphorical soapbox. “You know why we aren’t doing anything to combat global warming? Because we supposedly have no money, nobody cares. But you know how much congressional spending on the military is up to?”
