Will rolled his eyes.
Daniel gagged.
Kenzie turned and yanked her brother into the house. She didn’t yell at him, just stared, giving him her guilt-heavy “I’m so disappointed” look because she knew how much he hated it.
He tried to outlast her, but as usual, he failed. “I hate my life!” He rushed away, heading upstairs. A door slammed.
She turned to see her friends pitying her. “Oh, screw off.”
They started laughing, and she couldn’t help a sigh. “That was terrible, wasn’t it? That guy is never going to help any of us move ever again.” Sad, but since a relationship didn’t seem to be in the cards for her anyway, losing the moving god before she’d had a chance to screw up their first date could only be expected.
“That poor guy. A twenty-buck tip wasn’t enough.” Will shook his head. “Daniel is such an ass.” He chuckled. “I love that kid.”
“Shh. Don’t let him hear you,” Rachel admonished, and in a lower voice added, “Not in front of Kenzie.”
She wished her friends would discourage her brother from his illegal antics. But since Daniel had been banished from anything computer-related for the next few weeks until school started, he’d taken to “acquiring” electronic devices from friends to reach the internet. Now, how to make him stop behaving like a jackass and turn back into the responsible teenager he’d once been, back before the evil entity called puberty had entered his body and turned him into a conniving monster?
“Still, too bad you didn’t get a shot at being Moving Man’s love slave,” Lila said. “Because he was giving you the eye. We all saw it.”
“I did,” Will agreed.
“And he was sex-eee. With three e’s.” Trust Lila not to let it go.
“Soyoudate him.” Kenzie shrugged, pretending the potential loss didn’t annoy her. Which told her she’d better start putting in overtime at the job. If she had time to think about dating, she had enough time to take on that pain-in-the-ass client she’d told herself not to take.
“I’m not into white guys.” Lila grinned, lying through her teeth.
Even Rachel snorted at that.
Lila frowned. “And you hush. You got your own white guy.”
“I’m a quarter Hispanic, actually,” Will cut in. “And my uncle is—”
“Besides, Moving Man wasn’t looking at me like he wanted to do me. Which is too bad because I could teach him some things…”
Kenzie groaned. “Can we please not talk about him anymore? Why don’t we focus on what’s really bothering all of us?”
“The fact that no one has commented about how fineIam?” Will asked. “Because I’m much better looking than Evan.”
Rachel nodded solemnly and patted Will on the arm.
“No, what’s really bothering us is the fact that you’re stealing Rachel,” Lila answered. “I mean, I know you’re not. Not really. You’re all in love and stuff, but I’m going to miss my roomie.” Lila teared up.
Damn it.Kenzie thought she’d expended enough tears for the day. “I’m going to miss you too.”
“I feel it, right here.” Rachel put a hand over her heart. “But we’ll always be sisters from other misters.”
“Oh my God.” Will let out a loud breath. “We’re just moving eight blocks over. You still work together all the time, and we’re within walking distance.”
“I feel it,” Rachel repeated. “Not the same.”
Will groaned. “I need a drink. I’ll talk to you drama queens later.” He gave Rachel a peck on the lips. “I’ve gotta get back to work. See you soon, Meryl Streep.”
They watched him leave.
“Yep. Thrown over for a penis.” Lila shook her head.
Daniel froze behind her, having come into the kitchen. He turned around and stomped back the way he’d come, throwing over his shoulder, “Have I mentioned how much I hate my life?”
