“For the thirty millionth time, it wasbarelya concussion. Just felt like something different today.”
“Hm.”
She goes back behind the counter to wait on three people I don’t recognize, but she’s still shooting me looks when the door swings open.
I almost leap out of the booth, expecting Tavi, but instead, Lola Minelli marches through the door.
Dammit.
Not Tavi.
And my obsession is only because I’m craving chocolate.
Apparently lying to myself is becoming my new pastime.
“Oh mygah, Dylan Wright! You are just hot as a hockey goaltender after a game, aren’t you? Is this seat taken. Hi. I’m Lola. We haven’t met. Formally, I mean, when one of us isn’t surrounded by like a million people.”
She slides into my booth right next to me, and where a normal person would hold out a hand, she goes for a hug.
In the booth.
Where there’s not enough room for this.
She smells like a cross between coconut oil and baby powder, and it’s not a bad thing, but it’s also not chocolate.
“Ah, hi.” I slowly extract myself from the hug and grab my coffee cup.
Only shield I have. Sometimes, a guy needs a shield. This is definitely one of those times.
“Ijust sawyour TikTok with Tavi and Captain Chicken in the toilet. You arethe bestat talking people through plumbing, aren’t you? If I was ever going to fix anything myself, I wouldtotallywant you to be my teacher.”
“Captain Chicken?” Anya glances my way as one of her customers taps a credit card against her machine.
Ridhi sticks her head over the double swinging doors to the kitchen. “I don’t want to know.”
“Oh mygah, it was, like,so gross. Tavi had to stick her hand down thetoilet drainand pull out, like, thisraw chicken breast.”
“Thigh, actually,” I correct.
“It’s on Dylan’s TikTok.” Lola stops explaining to Ridhi long enough to smile widely at me. Her teeth are blinding white, and her lips are uneven, and I don’t want to be here. “You weresopatient and kind andsucha good teacher. I thought I learnedso muchabout home ownership while I was filmingLola’s Tiny House—reruns are streaming on demand, by the way—but I never learned how to change a toilet. I couldtotallywalk a stranger through doing it now.”
Anya slips her phone out of her pocket, eyeballing me like I’m an alien. “You’re on TikTok? I thought we all agreed we weren’t doing that. You never even joined Facebook.OrTwitter. Or Snapchat. Or—”
I cut her off. I don’t want to know how many social media sites I haven’t joined. “Can’t let the Lightlys be the only thing making the world want to visit us again.”
“Yes, we can,” Teague calls from the kitchen.
“Quit hiding and come say that to my face,” I call back, a real grin finally finding its way through today.
Anya cracks up.
Ridhi makes a face at me. “Don’t bait the beast. He’s already mad that Shiloh and I said Bridget can take an overnight trip with a friend.”
Ridhi, Shiloh, and Teague are family goals as far as I’m concerned. Having been in bad stepparent relationships, it’s amazing to see the three of them functioning through shit like a team.
Phoebe’s finding her footing in the group, too, with their support, and she’s made it clear she wants to be part of the team and do the right thing.
It’s so different from what my stepfathers wanted.
