Grey flinches.
“Why did everyone believe his lying ass?” Zen asks.
“Because it’s hard to face that someone you’ve known and trusted forever is capable of hurting and manipulating and gaslighting you,” Laney says.
“Even when you should know it’s not normal or okay,” Emma whispers.
“Knock it off.” Theo leans across the low table between us to squeeze her knee. “Not your fault I didn’t tell you.”
“Yes, it is.”
He growls.
“You’ve never let someone in your life that you believed you could change if you just worked hard enough?” I ask Zen to try to answer their question. “You’ve never seen someone’s potential and wanted to help them achieve it?”
They wrinkle their nose. “Calling me out about Uncle Grey when he’s sitting right there isn’t very polite of you.”
Grey tosses a napkin at Zen, who flashes him a grin. “Okay, okay, you can be taught. You dress so much better these days than you did when I first found you. It’s a start.”
“How did you find him?” Laney asks.
“Caught him digging in my trash—no, wait, that was his dog.”
“You’re this close to walking home,” Grey says.
Zen grins. “I’ll catch a ride with Sabrina. So, there was this family reunion one time, and Uncle Grey shows up for the first time in years, and I was like, ‘Who’s that weirdo doing experiments on the potato salad?’ and when I heard he sometimes forgot to shower or do his laundry, I decided to adopt him.”
I’m one hundred percent certain no one believes them, but none of my friends question their version either.
The rest of the evening is weirdly enjoyable.
Weirdly only because I know this feeling of friendship won’t last.
And eventually, it’s over.
We all pack up to head home.
And I wonder just how quickly everything will change once Grey’s grandmother arrives in town tomorrow.
27
Grey
“Quit being a stalker,” Zen says, making me snap away from peeking out of my living room blinds.
It’s not quite five in the morning. I was waiting for them to finish getting ready so that we can head to Bean & Nugget.
And while I was waiting, I was listening.
And while I was listening, I heard Sabrina moving around next door.
And when I heard her open her front door, I peeked out to watch her and Jitter leave for their morning walk.
“I was checking to see if it snowed more overnight,” I tell Zen.
“It hasn’t snowed since before we hit the speakeasy last night, and you know there’s no more snow in the forecast for at least a week.” They stride to the front door, fling it open, and lean out.
“Morning, Sabrina,” they call as they step outside without a coat.
“Morning, Zen,” comes back.
“Hungover today?”
“Not at all. You?”
“I’m fabulous. Who’s a good puppy? Yes, who’s the bestest puppy?”
My front door shuts, and I can hear nothing else going on outside.
I can hear what goes on inside the unit next to me—including that toothbrush that still makes stars dance in my vision in the good way when I let myself imagine it’s Sabrina pleasuring herself with a vibrator—but I can’t hear what’s going on outside.
So I do what any sane man who’s obsessed with a woman he can’t have would do.
I pull on my coat, hat, and gloves and join them.
Under the guise of it being time to leave, naturally.
Both of them go silent when I open the door.
Sabrina’s in leggings under a thick, puffy jacket, showing off every one of her curves. Her eyes sparkle under the porch light. Her hair seems extra curly, and I want to wrap it around my fingers while I bend down and— I clear my throat and lecture myself about respecting people’s boundaries again. “Morning, Sabrina.”
“Good morning, boss-man,” she replies cheerfully while her dog lunges for me and rubs his fur all over my pants and coat.
Annoying, that.
Not the dog.
Being called boss-man, I mean.
It’s annoying because it reminds me that the deadline I gave her to find me another way to ruin her cousin is almost here, and as much as I’m madly in obsession with her, I can’t bring myself to say the words talk to me about how you can buy this building back from me, even if it’s a nickel at a time.
“Ready, Zen?” I ask.
“Um, no. I haven’t had breakfast, and I’m still in my pajamas.”