She wiggled her head back and forth, her now-messy French braids swishing over her shoulder blades. “No. I sent Shane ahead to start unloading. Some of the guys from his team are going to meet him there. My plan is to hang out here till they’re done.”
A full, real laugh burst out of me. “That’s a good plan.”
She picked her head up. “I thought so.”
“It’s exciting, though, isn’t it? Shane’s a good guy.”
She flipped up and curled into the corner of the couch. I realized how long it had been since we’d hung out alone here at the apartment. Shane had always been around lately. Maybe after she moved in with him, she and I would get more concentrated sister time. Maybe it really would be a good thing.
“I haven’t let myself get excited yet,” she confessed, her gaze on her twisting fingers in her lap. “I feel so bad about leaving you, Ade. I can hardly stand it.”
I threw a throw pillow at her, but she caught it and hugged it against her chest. “Stop it,” I ordered. “I’ll be fine. I lived alone until you showed up like poor orphan Adleigh on my front step. I’m actually looking forward to having the place to myself again.”
“You are a dirty, rotten liar.”
“No, it’s true. I can go back to walking around naked. Having guys over anytime I want. Selling drugs. I’ve got plans, baby.”
She laughed at my absurdity. “The most unbelievable part of your plans is the one where you have guys over anytime you want. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“What? I have guys over.” Now I was feeling defensive. I hadn’t checked any of my dating apps in a while, not since Tinder Teddy. But you better bet your ass I was getting all over those things tonight.
“You used to have guys over. I don’t think you’ve brought anyone home since that guy who was obsessed with frogs.”
“Well, that’s because he gave me PTSD. I had no idea there were so many types of frogs in the Amazon.” I blinked at her. “Did you?”
“I do now.” She laughed until it turned into her high-pitched giggle. “Oh my God, remember his T-shirt had like frog facts on it.”
“I thought he was being ironic. I had no idea frogs were his life passion.”
We laughed until my stomach hurt. She had the best laughter. She laughed with her whole body. And she always cried. Tears would just stream from her eyes. It was the best. Even if we were laughing at my terrible luck with men.
“For real, though, you need to bring someone back. It’s time to get laid, mama. You’ve been celibate long enough.” She wiped at her wet cheeks.
“It’s hard to meet people when you work almost every night.”
Her lips pursed. “I guess that’s true. I always thought you were trying to like, shield me from your whorish ways.”
I rolled my eyes but laughed too. “Well, maybe at first. I mean, when you moved in, you were a wee little babe. But I stopped worrying about protecting your innocence when Shane started staying over regularly. Not sure if you know this or not, but you’re not exactly a quiet couple.”
Her cheeks flushed tomato red. “Oh my God, Ada!”
“And why do you always bang the wall? First of all, can we talk about why you think I wouldn’t be able to hear that? Why our entire floor can’t hear that? Does Shane take you to some other realm where you forget that humans not in the midst of passion have working ears?”
She gasped and threw the pillow back at me. I caught it and hugged it against my chest.
“Stop,” she groaned.
“Second, our apartment, while spacious, is still small.”
“I hate you.”
“And I hated being woken up from a dead sleep because you were getting your jollies off.”
“You are the absolute worst.”
I snorted, and then it turned into real laughter. “I guess maybe there are perks to you moving in with Shane.”
“Well, at least he’s not into frogs.” And then we laughed and laughed and laughed.
