I squeeze my eyes shut. That is something I’ve been trying to forget since Decker delivered the yearbook to my doorstep after work last night.
And for the record, I didn’t tell Laney that I didn’t answer the text.
Decker must have.
“Nothing about what I want to do with that information feels right,” I tell her.
She lifts her brows and waits, like she knows I mean it doesn’t feel right since I still want to sleep with Grey.
How screwed up is it to want to fuck around with the guy who’s actively making plans to destroy the place that built you?
When I don’t answer her questioning look right away, she grabs a plate of chocolate chip cookies from the end table next to her and offers it to me over the kittens.
“I’m still mad at you,” Emma says somewhere nearby.
I jump.
Laney jumps.
I don’t see Emma, but she’s definitely closer.
“I wonder if he tried that line about being fine with it if the government uses his extra taxes to fix up more roads on her,” Laney whispers.
“That’s a good one.”
“He was totally ready for her to be mad. He was debating something about paying the salary of the IRS agent who’d audit him too, but decided he didn’t want to push her blood pressure that far.”
We’re both still staring at the hallway that leads to Laney’s home office.
My heart is suddenly clawing its way up my throat, and it’s sharper than the kitten claws kneading into my thigh.
And there she is.
My tall, slender, blonde friend with the adorable pixie nose whose normally bright, happy brown eyes are dull and sad.
She has a computer bag slung over her shoulder, and Theo’s right behind her, his hand on her shoulder like he’s squeezing a silent I’m here if you need me.
“My other clients better not be as high-maintenance as you,” she grumbles, and then she freezes as her gaze lands on me.
My stomach threatens to toss every last cup of coffee I drank this morning. I finagle the kitten, tugging on it gently to try to untangle its claw from my clothes, prepared to rush across the room and strangle Emma in a hug, but make myself move slowly as I give a small finger wave. Both for the kitten’s sake and Emma’s sake. “Hey, Em. Welcome home.”
Her eyebrows furrow, and her lips wobble briefly, and then she fakes a smile.
I’m the reigning queen of fake smiles this week, but she threatens to take my crown with that forced happiness.
And it feels like my heart is pulling my throat with it as it thuds to the floor.
“Oh, don’t get up,” she says, pulling her computer and a stack of files to her chest like a shield. “Let the kitty stay put. Sorry. I have to run. Behind on work.”
“Right. Sure. Of course. Tax season. I know. But if you want to do our normal Razzle Dazzle film fest for a break—”
I cut myself off as she pulls a face I rarely see on her.
Even Laney seems startled by Emma’s outright horrified grimace.
“Thanks,” Emma says quickly, so many emotions that aren’t her normal joy flashing over her features, “but I don’t know if I’ll have time. I—I have to go.”
“Em—” Theo starts.
She cuts him off with a quick hug. “Don’t hide your money from me again. Talk to you later.”
She waves quickly at Laney and me, then dashes out the door.
My eyes get hot, but I will the sting away and look at Laney.
“She’s not mad,” Theo says.
He’s such a liar.
“She looks mad, and she’s acting mad,” I say.
“I can’t remember ever seeing her like that,” Laney agrees. She’s deflated too.
Theo shakes his head. “Never had a broken heart like this before either. Give her time. She’ll be back.”
“Did it hurt when she yelled at you?” Laney asks him.
He grins, but he doesn’t answer. A grey kitten pokes its head out of the kitchen like it’s making sure the coast is clear, and when Laney clucks her tongue, that kitten and two more dash out to join us. Theo scoops up two of them and deposits them in Laney’s lap with the first two, kisses her on the top of the head, and eyes me like he’s considering kicking me off of her couch.
Yes. Yes, they have an army of kittens that they saved in Hawaii.
No, they collectively cannot get more adorable.
I loop my arm through hers and lay my head on her shoulder while the kitten in my lap finally disentangles himself from my pants and climbs over to join his siblings in Laney’s lap.