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My head drops. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because not all of us are billionaires.” I do my best to support Cami. Whatever my girl wants, my girl gets. Dance lessons, gymnastics classes, afterschool art programs. Keeping her happy and busy comes with personal sacrifices, but I’m happy to provide for her in a way my sister never could. Yet, I still feel like I could do more. That I could work harder. Pick up a side hustle. Find a way to make more money.
There is one option.
A piercing hot sensation shoots through my chest.
Cal’s forehead creases with confusion. “Didn’t my grandfather leave you some money after he passed?”
My body temperature spikes, and I try to take a deep breath to regulate myself. I’m not even sure who I’m most angry at—Cal for bring up the inheritance or my sister for wasting a majority of it.
Cal’s gaze hardens. “Hedidleave you some money, right?”
My jaw hurts from how hard I clamp down on my molars.
“What happened—”
I speak up before he can finish his sentence. “It’s gone.”
“How much did he give you?”
My nails bite into the flesh of my palms. “Why does it matter?”
His face softens. “Because you’re not the kind of person to blow through money like that unless something happened.”
“You know what? Forget I said anything.” I swipe the rest of my mail off the counter and leave the kitchen before he has a chance to ask me where the money went.
Cal warned me years ago about my sister, but I didn’t listen. If he found out about all the mistakes I made, he would be furious.
Not at me.
Butforme.
And I know with all my heart that I can’t risk what a reaction like that might do to me, so I do what Cal has always done best.
I run.
“What’s up with you tonight?” Violet nudges me in the shoulder. “You didn’t even comment on Mr. Jeffries hitting on Ms. Reyes at the bar.”
“Mr. Jeffries likes Ms. Reyes? Since when?” I have worked with both of them at the school for years and never would have guessed either one liked the other based on their STEM rivalry.
“Apparently! Although the feeling is not mutual based on how quickly she shut him down.”
“It was pretty sad to watch.” Delilah clasps her hands over her heart. “But also weirdly entertaining. Kind of like one of those reality TV dating shows.”
“It’s a mystery how some people find their future spouses here.” I look around Last Call. The bar is old and run-down, but all the locals love it since the tourists don’t know about it. There is even a jukebox that still works if hit in the right spot.
“There’s always that tourist trap bar off Dale Mayberry Road if you’re in the mood for egotistical, stock market assholes who are obsessed with anal because regular sex is ‘too intimate.’” Violet throws up a pair of air quotes.
Delilah chokes on her seltzer. “I’m so glad I’m taken.”
“Not all of us were lucky enough to find the love of our life in high school.” Violet sticks out her tongue.
Delilah looks down at her ring with a smile. My chest tightens, the sensation screwing with my head. I’m not jealous of Delilah. I feel nothing but happiness for her and her husband, yet something in me feels off-kilter.
Maybe youarejealous.
