Zoe comes over and plops down on the floor next to Riley, rolling her eyes. “You can say bitch, Maddy. It’s not like we’ve never heard that word before. Can you do my hair next?” she asks, looking up at Sophie.
“You got it. Anything for the girl who brought down the big bad bitch of the Fieldston play.”
Riley cackles. “I love that. I’m calling her the big bad bitch from now on. She is a total bitch, and it’s better just to call it like it is. It gives her less power that way.”
“Damn right it does.” Emmy holds up a hand for a high five, and Riley grins and slaps it.
I wince internally, wondering briefly what Cam is going to think about the big bad bitch thing, and then decide he’ll probably be fine with it. He keeps it real with his kids. It’s one of the things I like most about him.
Besides all the other things.
Everything.
I like everything about him. All the things.
I take a sip of the orange soda in front of me to wet my suddenly dry throat. I played it cool with Cam yesterday. Or, at least, as cool and I’m capable of being. But the truth is, I was nervous about his kids being here for Thanksgiving. It’s a ridiculous thing to be nervous about, considering he hasn’t told his kids what’s going on between us, but since the first night I stayed at his house, everything feels like higher stakes.
We haven’t managed another full night together, just a few stolen hours here and there at my house or his when we can both get away, but my feelings for Cam are…very, very big. And even though we still have so much to figure out, I want to do exactly that. With him. The time for staying away from him is long gone. I’m not even sure I ever could. This is happening. At least, I hope it is. Which means I hope Cam’s kids are going to be a big part of my life, which means they have to like me.
I glance across the room where Ethan is pouring over a book of hockey stats with my dad and brother. He’s wearing the old Lightning hockey jersey I brought for him and is looking at my dad like he hung the damn moon, and something about the whole scene has my heart clenching. When my dad and Ethan both look up at me at the same time with twin grins and Ethan tosses me a wave, my chest fills with unexpected warmth.
Something about watching the kids who belong to the man who is rapidly becoming my most important person fit in so seamlessly with all the people I love most in the world is making me feel settled in a way I don’t think I’ve experienced before andcan’t quite explain. All I know is that I like it, and it’s making me wish Cam was here too, sitting next to me and laughing with my friends and talking hockey with my dad and brother.
Soon, I promise myself.One day soon.
“Is someone going to fill us in on what happened?” Sarah asks, propping her feet on the coffee table. “Sounds like there’s some good gossip to be had.”
“Sarah is trash for good gossip,” Caitlin says to the girls, digging into the bag I put on the floor and coming up with a handful of M&M’s bags in various flavors, tossing them to all of us.
“Who isn’t?” Riley says with a shrug. “Okay, so my understudy for the play is this girl Tara. She’s a senior and she’s awful.”
“Like, the actual worst,” Zoe pipes in. “She wanted the lead, but Riley got it because Riley is uber-talented and Tara isn’t and she knows it. So instead of trying to be something better than a mediocre actress, she’s done everything she can to steal the part from Riley like a total freaking jerk.”
Riley nods. “She has. Anyway, we were all on the stage yesterday, and Zoe kept goading Tara into saying mean things about, like, everyone in the play. Tara is such an idiot that she didn’t realize Zoe was completely playing her. Mr. Murphy, the play director, was right behind Tara and heard everything. He kicked her out of the play right on the spot, and when she threw a fit, he said if she didn’t apologize and leave the theater, he would contact every single college she applied to and tell them personally what happened and why she isn’t in the play anymore.”
“She didn’t even have the decency to look mad,” Riley says, standing up from the floor when Sophie taps her on the shoulder to let Riley know her hair is finished. Zoe slides into Riley’s place in front of Sophie, and Riley takes the spot next to me on the couch. “She just muttered an apology and slunk out of the auditorium like the coward she is.”
“God, it’s just delicious when bullies get what’s coming to them,” Maya says with an evil sort of smile.
“Right?” Emmy tosses a handful of M&M’s into her mouth and grins slyly. “There’s something so satisfying about seeing justice served. It’s why I became a lawyer. I like being the one to give the bad guys what’s coming to them.”
“And you’re so good at it, my baby.” Rachel strolls up with a tray of glasses filled with a bright red bubbly liquid and sets it on the coffee table. “Shirley Temples for everyone,” she announces, handing the glasses around before taking one for herself and sitting next to Sophie. “I’m feeling festive. Dinner will be ready in ten. In the meantime, tell me who served the justice.”
“We did,” Riley says with a shrug. “I mean, Zoe did. I just watched.”
Zoe scoffs. “You served justice too by putting up with that wench for the last three months without killing her completely dead.”
I smile at the two girls, who remind me so much of myself and my friends when we were thirteen. The way they support each other and clearly care about each other deeply is rare and special. Glancing around the circle at my friends and cousins—my sisters—I hope for these girls what I’ve been lucky enough to find. And if my brain serves me up an image of a younger me, lonely and wondering if I would ever have a family of my own, I shut that shit right down because today is absolutely not the day.
Rachel hoots out a laugh. “Why don’t we use the word wench anymore? It’s so good.”
Zoe grins. “I know. I didn’t know the word until we started readingRomeo and Julieta few weeks ago, and now I want to use it as much as possible.”
“You calling people wenches again?” Liv asks, squeezing Zoe’s shoulder and coming over to sit on my other side.
Zoe nods. “Always.”
“So, when’s the play?” Sarah asks. “Can we come see it?”
