Ava hooks an arm around my neck, then her brother’s. The way she tugs me against her makes my stomach feel weird. Sort of squirmy and tight.
“He listens to fun music, likes being outside, and baseball. I think we found a friend who’s like us, D.”
Drake isn’t glaring anymore. He even smiles a little as he says, “We’ll see, Avie. I guess we’ll see.”
Ava
What happenswhen one finds themselves jobless? They rearrange their cottage. I stand in the middle of my living room, and it looks like a bomb went off. I love this place. A simple two bedroom, but if the Vegas area had lush forests and babbling brooks, the small, stucco and stone cottage would fit right in.
I call it my little piece of wonderland in the sand.
There are some impressive palms outside, and brilliant orange mariposa lilies across the front of the house. Dad and Drake helped me build a stone fountain out back last spring, and in the evenings, I sit beneath a pergola wrapped in fairy lights and listen to the trickle of water over the pink rocks.
I’m rather proud of my little refuge.
The trouble is, now I need to find a way to keep the bills paid for my plot of adulthood.
Naturally, to deal with the unexpected turn of events in my life, I’ve torn down my shades and considered what shutters would look like instead. My loveseat and sofa have been moved three times, and now I’ve torn half the stylish wallpaper off one wall by my bookshelves. I’ll paint the wall now. It needed something new, something fresh.
Sasha chomps into a veggie straw and lets out another sigh.
“What?” She’s not subtle about when she wants me to ask her what’s on her mind
“Nothing. Except this . . .” She points a spinach straw at the mess. “This has Ryder written all over it.”
I frown. “It does not. And what was the rule when I texted you?”
“No talking about Ryder.” She bites into another straw with a snort. “Like I’d follow that one. Do you not know me at all?”
Sasha is one of a few people who know the anguish-lined details of my whirlwind love affair with Ryder. She went to different schools, but as my best girlfriend, she knew my best guy friend turned love-of-my-teenage-life. But she’s loyal and never blabs about it to anyone.
She’s never brought up Ryder. Not even when she told Hudson we technically have connections to another celebrity. The drummer in the local rock band, Perfectly Broken, had a stint in the same group home as Drake and me. But he was several years older and fostered pretty quickly.
Although, right before Drake and I were adopted, Tate Hawkins came back a few times to help teach music. He was a young teenager, and I was only ten last time I saw him. He wouldn’t know me. I’d forgotten about him until I saw a billboard of the band and asked Sasha’s mom if he was the same kid.
Sasha tosses the bag of veggie straws onto my sofa and brushes the crumbs off her hands. “So, are you going to tell Drake?”
“Tell Drake what?” Like we summoned him, Drake rounds the corner of the entryway, Hudson a step behind him.
Drake’s got his cocky smirk in place, and chose to dress in his fire T-shirt with gray sweats. He does that on purpose, since it is a common belief amongst the firefighters that once they’re out of their turnouts and in sweats, women will flock to them like mosquitos around water.
My brother scratches his head, taking in the chaos of the room. “Um, what’s going on here?”
“Redecorating.” I turn my back on him and nudge the arm of my loveseat toward the corner.
“Ava quit her job,” Sasha says and pecks Hudson’s lips.
“What?” Drake snaps his gaze to mine. “Ava, what happened? Did Cruella do something, or—”
“I didn’t quit, exactly. More like I was highly encouraged to part ways with the company.” I let out a breath and prop my fists on my hips. How do I do this without dragging Drake down the dreary memory lane? “Carina found out I was looking for another job, and she takes personal insult to things like that. Apparently, I joined a cult, and no one is allowed to leave once you’re hired.”
Hudson chuckles. “She was a piece of work. I’m glad you’re out of there.”
“Agreed.” Drake nods at Hudson. “But it helps to have another job set up, you know what I’m saying?”
“D, do I need to remind you that you are, in fact, a total of six minutes older than me? I know how to be a grown up about as well as you do.” I chuckle and nudge his shoulder. “I’ll be fine. Both Mom and Dad have offered me a job. In fact, I worked the register today.”
That appeases him a bit.
