“You’re the worst,” I groaned.
“Maybe,” he shrugged, “but I’m also the best. So, let’s summarize.”
I lifted my head, resting my chin on my arm draped across my raised knee. “Okay.”
“Lucy went to this gallery he’s been dreading.” Duke lists off on his fingers. “He comes back in tears, and his not-boyfriend gives him the third degree, pushes his boundaries, and storms out of the apartment like a bat out of hell.”
I glared at him.
He pretended not to see.
“Now you’re here, gloomy and pathetic, wanting your not-ex-boyfriend to be your boyfriend for realsies.”
He pouted his lips as he blatantly mocked me, knowing I wouldn’t say anything for fear of him not helping me.
“Right?” he pushed, knowing I was weak.
“Yeah,” I grumbled. “Sure.”
He smirked. “So we need to get you back to his place ASAP so you can profess your love.”
I winced. “I don’t think he’s going to want me there.”
My phone alarm blared, making both of us jump.
Duke shot to his feet. “Is that him!”
I shook my head and shut off the alarm. “It’s a reminder. I have an interview at ten.”
Duke’s eyes widened. “What! Dude, it’s nine! We have to get you there. You need to get a shower first.” He hooked his hand in my elbow and tugged me to my feet, the blanket falling to the carpet below.
I drug my feet. “I thought we were trying to get Lucy back?”
Duke huffed. “We will,afteryour interview.”
He shoved me into the bathroom. “Now go, use my shampoo or whatever.”
“But–”
“Dude,” Duke sighed, shoulders sagging, “I know you like him, but this is important too. If you don’t get a job by tomorrow, you’re royally fucked, your dad gets to stomp around and gloat, and you don’t get your nana’s house. Lucy’s going to have to understand that, okay? Clean up, go to your interview, and I will drive you to Lucy’s. I promise.”
All the fight left me. He was my best friend, and he was just trying to support me. He loved Nana as much as I did, and he knew how important her house and her photo albums were to me.
The tent, the porch, the ancient peppermint candy canes under the stairs. They were my childhood, and they were starting to feel like a future I could grasp.
“Okay,” I sighed.
“Okay?”
“Okay, I’ll go to the interview.” I lifted my gaze back to him. “But you have to take me to Lucy’s after. I don’t want to deal with a cab.”
“I will drop you off and go grab coffee and lunch so you can take them as a cute little gesture to butter him up. I promise you, Knox. It’ll be okay.”
23
KNOX
It was not okay. I was standing in the entryway of Valero Pub & Grill, waiting for Felix, the owner I was interviewing with, to come out and meet me.
