Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Justin's name comes up and I nearly laugh. Not because it's funny - because it's absurd. That guy couldn't handle this with the seriousness it deserves if his life depended on it. He's not right for this.
I'm already shaking my head when Ivy does it for me.
Good girl.
Smart girl.
And the idea of someone careless being the one she learns from - someone who'd rush it, joke about it, tell people - makes my stomach knot for reasons I don't unpack.
Because I don't have the right to feel that way.
Then Charlottes leaving and I'm still here, waiting.
The front door opens again.
My cue.
I push off the wall and step back into the hallway before either of them can catch me lurking like a creep.
Leon rounds the corner, tucking his phone into his pocket. Whistling low under his breath.
"You ready?" he asks.
"Yeah."
My voice sounds normal.
Controlled.
I walk past the kitchen doorway.
I don't look in.
I don't.
But I feel her there.
And it does something ugly and territorial inside my chest.
Leon claps my shoulder as we head out the door.
"You good?"
"Fine."
The word tastes like a lie.
Because I'm not fine.
I'm thinking about her wanting someone to teach her.
And I know exactly who I don't want that someone to be.
I stare ahead as we walk to the car.
Not my place.
