I chuckled and began typing a response.
Me:I do. You know, there are people out there who find monkeys sexually attractive, but for the sake of the early hour, let’s not dive into that factoid just yet.
Ash:Be honest: are you on something this morning?
Me:Snow fumes – they’ve damaged my brain. I’m addicted and can’t get enough.
Ash:I don’t know why I even try with you, seriously.
I laughed.
Ashleigh and I became friends when we were ten. She’d come to the shop with her parents every evening for flavored breads and pastries, and we just…clicked.
Because I was homeschooled, I didn’t exactly have anyone my age to be around at the time – except for Remi, I guess – so Ash and I quickly got attached to the hip. She’d spend hours at the shop, either completing her homework, talking about the people at her school, and, as we grew up, about the hot boys she knew and had kissed. Our sleepovers were just as colorful, if not less.
She’s the one who’d helped me score my first date and boyfriend when I was nineteen, and when things went downhill six months later, she was there to kick my ex right where the sun hates to shine.
She was the one who’d held me in her arms outside the ICU during myvovó’sfinal days, and she’s the one who pulled me out of the darkness afterVovó’spassing. In a way, Ash has shown me how to live life at different angles, ones that lead to just as many outcomes.
She’s never had an issue interacting with me, and as I learnt Sign over the years, so did she. Once she decided to be there for me, she didn’t ever think of leaving my side. And thank God for that, because I’d be an utter disaster without her in my life.
It isn’t always your family that makes you who you are, or strengthens your empire to make you a better person. Sometimes it’s a friend, someone who just randomly walks intoyour shop one evening and decides to hold your hand for as long as you’ll let her.
I sniffed and let go of a long breath, and then realized I hadn’t replied to Ash’s last message.
Me:AnyWHO. So, speaking of gorgeous… I can’t exactly call his brother that. The dude looks like a freight train with teeth. Almost freaked me out with his smile when I walked out the door.
Ash:OMG! Hahahahaha, really?
I licked my fingers after shoving the last of the second cupcake into my mouth. Christ, these weregood. I had to let Cruz know, and also ask him for samples so that I could get them approved byAvôbefore adding them to our daily list.
Me:Yeah, really. I did wave at him, though.
Ash:Why the hell would you wave at him?!?!
Ash worked as a checkout manager atTrader Joe’s, and her schedule was just as hectic as mine, so the fact that she was indulging me with this conversation clearly showed her investment in me. I have, after all, been known to be a bad influence.
Onlyoccasionally, of course.
Me:Because he has kind of a friendly face???
Ash:You literally JUST called him a freight train with teeth, Rina. Get your act together.
I grinned and grabbed the third cupcake.
Butterscotch+Açaí
Me:I didn’t wanna come across as rude…
Ash:So you waved at a potential axe murderer.
It wasn’t a question, but a statement, which made me giggle.
Me:He has Myles’s eyes. And hair. And face. Almost.I couldn’t ignore that:’(
Ash:Myles, huh?
I felt my neck and cheek flush at that.
