“Cat’s need litter boxes.I’m not scooping anyone’s shit.”
Gwen pursed her lips.“A ferret?”
“That’s a rodent.”
“Actually, ferrets are weasels,” Chloe corrected.
Bailey snorted into her beer.“Yeah, that’s better.Actually, I was thinking of asking Nash to move in.”
Chloe choked on her grape Faygo, spewing it over the table.
“Why can’t you two eat right?”Bailey complained.
“Sorry,” Chloe wheezed and used the non-mayo end of her paper towel to mop up.
“Nash?”Gwen asked.“Really?”
“Sure.Why not?”
“For one thing, he’s your ex-boyfriend,” Chloe reminded her.
“So?”Bailey shrugged.“That was a million years ago.”
“It was seven years ago,” Gwen corrected her, “and that breakup was…”
“Brutal,” Chloe supplied.“You almost didn’t graduate because of him.And it was, what, two years before you started dating again?”
“Okay, it was a bad breakup,” Bailey admitted.“And yes, it took me a while to get over it.”
“Two years,” Chloe repeated.
“But I’m over it now,” Bailey said pointedly.
Chloe had her own opinion on that, but wisely kept it to herself.
“Isn’t his apartment in that high rise downtown?”Gwen asked.“Would he even want to give it up?”
“His rent’s going up when it renews in June, so he’s looking around to see what else is out there.He could pay half the mortgage and utilities here for a third of what he’ll be paying after the increase.”
Chloe exchanged looks with Gwen.“What’d he say when you offered?”
“I haven’t yet.It’s just something I’m thinking about.”
Chloe resisted the urge to sigh.She’d been friends with Bailey for a dozen years, and knew that by the time her friend got around to discussing an idea, ninety-percent of the time she’d already decided on a course of action.She glanced at Gwen, saw the resignation she felt echoed on her face.“Well, at least you know he’s not going to bring a Nazi boyfriend home.”
“A definite plus,” Gwen agreed.“But I still vote for a ferret.”
“If you say ferret one more time, I’m going to explain anal douching,” Bailey warned.“In detail.”
Gwen’s brown eyes went sad behind her glasses.“Why do you always have to make it weird?”
“Just my little gift to the world,” Bailey said and got up for another beer.
* * * *
Chloe pulled up at the church house, as she’d affectionately dubbed it, just after five.She had an overnight bag, an insulated carryout bag she’d borrowed from the pub, and a sparkling clean, ready to be fucked and/or vigorously eaten asshole.
She was kind of hoping for some of both.
