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“The ones I already own.” Nolan groans when I give her the answer she didn’t want. “Stop trying to spend money on me.”
“I can’t help it. Spending money is my favorite hobby.”
My eyes roll. “You know, most people spend moneyona hobby, but it isn’t the actual hobby itself.”
She huffs indignantly. “Well, most people aren’t as fabulous as I am.”
How do I always end up with the friends who are confident to a fault?
We talk for a little over a half hour before she has to go. Apparently she has her second massage of the day scheduled with this new masseuse she’s crushing on. The girl bounces from guy to guy like she’s at a goddamn trampoline park. But she promises me she’ll get me some of my things within the next couple days, and at least I know that she will pick me out some cute outfits. I don’t have to worry there will be all sweatpants and turtlenecks in the box. Maybe she’ll even make me look good enough for Hayes to want me back.
Lord knows after we fucked the other night, even with it being as angry as it was, the craving to do it again has been getting stronger with each minute I spend around him.
I need to feel him again.
Family dinners looka little differently than they used to. For the longest time, it would be the three of us hanging out in the kitchen while Devin and I tried to taste the food before my mom was done with it. Then we would all crowd around the small table and eat. As we grew up, it eventually moved to the living room—you know, once we were at an age where we could be trusted not to make a mess.
Now it’s Devin and me on either side of Mom’s bed, laughing at some horrible movie that plays on TV. It doesn’t have the same carelessness that it used to. The heaviness of Mom’s decision to end her treatments lingers in the air. But we make the most of it, because sitting around and thinking about how she’s going to die is only wasting the time we have while she’s still here.
“And now she’s about toaccidentallyrun into him,” Devin predicts.
Sure enough, only a few seconds later, the main character does exactly that. My mom and I chuckle. These things are so damn predictable. Always have been. But Mom loves them, so we watch them to make her happy.
“It’s cute!” Mom coos.
Devin rolls her eyes. “It’s unrealistic and tells women that they need a man to make them feel valued.”
I lean back in my chair and put my feet up at the end of my mom’s bed. “Oh, someone’s on her soapbox today.”
“Don’t even get me started on you,” she says, glaring at me. “You’ve got zero sense of self-preservation if you’re letting that chick back into your life.”
Huffing out a laugh, I look over at Mom. “Someone saw Laiken at the bar this morning.”
“Ah.” She nods slowly as the pieces fall into place, and then looks at Devin. “Were you nice?”
My sister fakes a sweet smile. “I was an angel.”
“Sure, if you still consider Lucifer an angel,” I joke. “You ran her out of there so fast—”
She shrugs. “It’s not my fault she’s afraid of me.”
I snort, and even Mom laughs at that one. “Dev, I’ve seen you cry over a broken nail. She could kick your ass all while not spilling her glass of wine. Not to mention, she has Mali. And evenI’mafraid of Mali.”
No one can blame me for it. The girl is fucking ruthless. Cam is a glutton for punishment with her, but at the same time, I can see him being the only one who can get her to listen.
“Whatever,” Devin scoffs. “Don’t come crying to me when she breaks your heart again. Once a bitch, always a bitch.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sigh while Mom scolds her—telling her she understands her disapproval, but it’s my life to do as I please. And it is, but that doesn’t mean I’m not terrified of her being right.
Shecouldbreak my heart again.
And the thought of that has been enough lately to keep me from falling back into old habits with her.
“Mom, are you sure you don’t want me to move home? You seem to be losing your mind a bit lately,” she says.
It’s supposed to be a joke, but we all know she’s been itching to move home since Mom got her diagnosis. Devin hates being so far away and having to rely on updates from me. But we also know she’s best off there, where I can shelter her and make sure she only sees Mom on her good days, so she doesn’t have to witness the bad.
“Absolutely not,” Mom tells her. “I did not bust my ass raising you so you could throw it all away for me. You’re going to keep going to college.”
