There are no words that they can say to ease my breaking heart, but my two best friends holding me up when I want to collapse means more to me than perhaps they even know. The tears I’ve been desperately holding back seep through my scrunched lids and I cling to my best friends as waves of sadness wash through me.
“This is so dumb,” I manage to say hoarsely once my nose is red, my eyes are swollen, and my throat is raw. “I only just met Grayson, but it felt like I was losing a huge piece of myself when we said goodbye. Every time we touched it was electric and when he looked at me, he saw me—just me, the real me.”
“Then that means it isn’t dumb at all,” Liv murmurs quietly.
She caresses my hair and pats my back while Sutton continues to hold me close. That’s probably for the best, knowing Sutton’s penchant toward sass. Her embrace is so tight that I know she’s hurting for me, too, though, and that’s enough for me.
At some point, the three of us all sink down on the kitchen floor with the bowl of edible, egg-free brownie batter wedged between us. My two besties sit on either side of me. Sutton and I have our legs outstretched while Liv’s are curled beneath her. We each have a spoon and take turns eating scoops of the rich chocolate dessert.
There’s no better salve for the soul than edible chocolate brownie batter.
Sutton sucks some chocolate off her finger and eyes me. “I don’t know if you want to hear this, but the fans you ran into at Franco’s posted about it on our Facebook page.”
“Please tell me they didn't say anything negative at least,” I say with a grimace. “It was so awkward. I did my best to be nice.”
Liv immediately shakes her head, her long ponytail swinging back and forth as she jumps in to soothe me. “No, not at all! It was all good stuff. They were thrilled. Franco himself even reposted it.”
“Franco?” Sutton and I echo at once.
“Yep!” Liv gives us a tentative smile. “And we all know that Franco only ever posts about his motorcycles and his burgers, so that’s a pretty big deal.” She pauses to lick some batter off her spoon, her dark eyes thoughtful. “Maybe he’ll want to do some sort of collab in the future.”
Sutton laughs and I can’t help but do the same. It feels kind of hollow compared to the waves of laughter that threatened to swallow me whole when I was with Grayson. But at least it’s a reminder that I’ll smile again, even if I’m hurting like hell right now.
“What kind of collaboration would we do with Franco’s Burgers?” I ask. “A chili cheese inspired makeup pallet?”
“Never say never,” Sutton quips.
We all laugh again. I lean back against the island, closing my eyes and thanking all of my lucky stars that I have Sutton and Liv at my side. No matter what little fights we have, at the end of the day, we can always depend on each other. That’s what family really is.
“You’re going to be all right, Kali,” Liv says softly after we’ve all stopped laughing and had our fill of brownie batter.
Sutton frowns at both of us. “Of course, Kali is going to be okay. She’s going to be more than okay. She’s got her job to focus on and she has that Fostering Tomorrow event coming up and we’ve got that fashion collab with the boutique in the city. Kali is going to keep blasting off like a rocket while that lawyer guy does…well…whatever boring things lawyers do.”
Liv giggles, lacing her fingers with mine. “Plus, you have us.”
On my other side, Sutton does the same to my other hand. I cling to both of theirs, unable to help but smile a little.
“You’re right,” I state with a resolute nod. “I am going to be okay.”
However, I don’t say the pained word that should follow next—eventually.
CHAPTER TEN
I never really thought lime green was my color, but looking at myself now in the bathroom mirror, it turns out I can definitely rock it.
The front of the loose-fitting tee is emblazoned with the Fostering Tomorrow logo I designed and the charity has asked Sutton, Liv, and me to wear the shirts for the event in LA today. While I’ve simply tucked the shirt into my shorts so it doesn’t fit like a potato sack, Liv has meticulously snipped a few fashionable holes in hers so that it’s morphed from a regular unisex tee to an off-the-shoulder, cute-as-hell top. Sutton, meanwhile, has deftly knotted it above one of her slender hips so it shows off her flawless figure.
I smile at my reflection. I can hardly believe that the day of the charity’s fundraiser has already arrived. The past month has been a busy blur of video recordings, photoshoots, heartache, and business meetings.
Laura Randolph, the chair of Fostering Tomorrow, has asked me to be one of the main hosts of the event since it’s a cause so dear to me, but Sutton and Liv are coming along to support me—and to snap lots of pictures for our social media, of course. The best part of G&G’s fan base is how much they’re willing to give back when we amplify the voices of the various charities that we work with. I can’t wait to see how much money we raise for Fostering Tomorrow by the end of the day. Something tells me it’s going to be a lot.
“It’s nice to see you smiling again,” Sutton remarks as she pops into my bathroom. She holds out a tube of lip gloss. “Can you?”
I take the gloss and take off the cap, then apply it to her plump lips. “I’m always smiling.”
It’s true, even when I don’t want it to be.
“Yeah, I know,” she answers, barely holding still long enough for me to help her with her makeup. “But this smile seems for real.”
