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“Thank you. Can you… can you give her this too?” he asked, handing me a gift bag I hadn’t even realized was in his hand. “I was going to give it to her before I brought her to the party, but everything kinda…”
“Went south,” I filled in for him, accepting the bag. “Yeah. I’ll give it to her.”
Alicia and I went back to the car, and Tyler went back upstairs – we didn’t pull off until he’d gone inside.
“He seems like a decent kid,” Alicia murmured as she merged into traffic. “Why couldn’t you get yourself a nice normal boyfriend like that?”
I sucked my teeth. “Says the woman practically married to a cop.”
“Formercop,” she corrected. “And either would be better than a non-reformed Thorn.”
“OhGod, I thought we were past this,” I said. “When are you going to justacceptthat me and Isaiah are a thing, and gonna continue to be?”
“Every time I try, I remember that he’s a Thorn. And not a Wilder kinda thorn either.”
I huffed. “You act like Wilder wasn’t a killer too – likeyouweren’t,” I reminded her, making her cringe.
“I’d be just as concerned if you told me you were dating a Rose – it’s not specific to Isaiah,” she said, as if that made it better. “I just…knowWilder now. And I was wary of him at first too.”
“I get that, butIknow Isaiah.”
“Like I thought I knew Reo Tanaka?”
“Seriously?!” I sputtered. “Alicia, Reo was a psychopath and everybodyknewit about him. It’s not fair to act like he’s the standard for all Thorns.”
“Except heisthe standard for all Thorns,” Alicia countered. “He was the ideal. Don’t let the fact that some of them appear well-adjusted make you forget that. They –we –were literally bred to be charming, ruthless… maniacs. And they did a good job.”
“Well, thank goodness for therapy,” I said, not giving in to her assertion. “Yes, we all know the power of conditioning, but we also know none of that is final. Every single one of us is living proof of that – some have just been in the healing process longer than others.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “So… are you telling me Isaiah is in therapy?”
“Not that it’s your business, but… yes. He started last week. He hates it, but… he’s trying. And that, to me, is a good enough place for now. And the fact that he makes me happy, should be good enough for you.”
Alicia shook her head. “Nope. Thatisn’tgood enough for me,” she said. “But… the fact that he’s actively working on himself, which lowers the chances that I’ll have to kill his ass over you? Well… that’s a gamechanger.”
I laughed. “Can I consider that your blessing?”
She peeked over at me from the driver’s seat, just before we pulled into the store parking lot.
“Okay. Fine.”
