But would he believe me?
He shifts his attention back to Emma. “Not your fault.”
“He told me about you shortly after Thanksgiving. He said you were looking for investors in a business opportunity, though, not that he was selling the café to you.”
Grey flinches.
“Why did everyone believe his lying ass?” Zen asks.
“Because it’s hard to face that someone you’ve known and trusted forever is capable of hurting and manipulating and gaslighting you,” Laney says.
“Even when you should know it’s not normal or okay,” Emma whispers.
“Knock it off.” Theo leans across the low table between us to squeeze her knee. “Not your fault I didn’t tell you.”
“Yes, it is.”
He growls.
“You’ve never let someone in your life that you believed you could change if you just worked hard enough?” I ask Zen to try to answer their question. “You’ve never seen someone’s potential and wanted to help them achieve it?”
They wrinkle their nose. “Calling me out about Uncle Grey when he’s sitting right there isn’t very polite of you.”
Grey tosses a napkin at Zen, who flashes him a grin. “Okay, okay, you can be taught. You dress so much better these days than you did when I first found you. It’s a start.”
“How did you find him?” Laney asks.
“Caught him digging in my trash—no, wait, that was his dog.”
“You’rethis closeto walking home,” Grey says.
Zen grins. “I’ll catch a ride with Sabrina. So, there was this family reunion one time, and Uncle Grey shows up for the first time inyears, and I was like, ‘Who’s that weirdo doing experiments on the potato salad?’ and when I heard he sometimes forgot to shower or do his laundry, I decided to adopt him.”
I’m one hundred percent certain no one believes them, but none of my friends question their version either.
The rest of the evening is weirdly enjoyable.
Weirdly only because I know this feeling of friendship won’t last.
And eventually, it’s over.
We all pack up to head home.
And I wonder just how quickly everything will change once Grey’s grandmother arrives in town tomorrow.
27
Grey
“Quit being a stalker,”Zen says, making me snap away from peeking out of my living room blinds.
It’s not quite five in the morning. I was waiting for them to finish getting ready so that we can head to Bean & Nugget.
And while I was waiting, I was listening.
And while I was listening, I heard Sabrina moving around next door.
And when I heard her open her front door, I peeked out to watch her and Jitter leave for their morning walk.
