All she wanted was to scrub off the funk of feta cheese, overcooked puff pastry, and secondhand smugness, so of course that was when her roommate returned, locking the bathroom door behind her. Unless it was a burglar who’d realized there was nothing valuable in the apartment and decided to grab a quick shower before moving on to greener pastures.
Libby barely cared, unless whoever it was used all the hot water. It was enough to make you long for a house with twenty-seven bathrooms… and one very special shower.
She collapsed onto the couch in her sticky black pants. The fabric was shiny at the knees, worn to the brink of splitting even though she waited as long as possible between washes. Libby had been looking forward to throwing them away, but that wasn’t an option now. Maybe her followers would know whether air freshener worked on clothing. Although she should probably take them off first.
After a few minutes, the bathroom door opened, releasing a cloud of steam. Jean walked into the living room wearing her bathrobe, a towel wrapped around her hair.
“You came back.” Libby was going for nonchalant, like she’d barely noticed her absence, and if ithadcrossed her mind to wonder if Jean was ever coming home, it certainly wasn’t because Libby minded one way or the other.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not your mom, Libby.” It sounded like a punch line, but neither of them laughed. Jean sat down onthe edge of the coffee table, not quite in Libby’s space but close enough to knee her in the shin.
“I’ll always come back, you big loser. You’re stuck with me. That’s the deal. Even if I’m a dick sometimes.”
“I wasn’t sure,” Libby admitted, knocking her legs against Jean’s.
“That I’m a dick?”
“The other part.”
“For an ace reporter, you can be a little slow on the uptake.” Jean winced. “Too soon?”
“It’s fine. I think we have some salt in the kitchen if you want to go ahead and pour that on the open wound.”
“Just put it on my tab.” Jean patted her leg. “Of dick things to say.”
“Could you maybe stop saying dick, though?” Especially since Libby would be living in a dick-free universe for the foreseeable future.
Jean pretended to think it over. “Mmmm, probably not. I still have to apologize for being a dick about your boyfriend. Sometimes when I feel bad about something, I strike first, you know?”
“I think there’s a psychological term for that.”
“You’d know. Being the star psych student in the household.”
“B-minus,” Libby admitted. Once you started narcing on yourself, it was hard to stop.
“The point is, I get it. Love makes you crazy. Or lust. Whatever it is.”
“You mean ‘was,’” Libby corrected. “We’re extremely past tense.”
“Unless he sees your cry for help.”
Libby got a vivid mental picture of a small airplane trailing a banner over his house in the mountains.Jefferson, I’m sorry. Please come back. I’ll learn to hike. Love, Libby.
That probably wasn’t what Jean had in mind. “What are you talking about?”
“This Watch Me Melt Down in Real Time bit you’re doing.” Jean pulled her phone out of the pocket of her robe, opening theLove, Lillibetprofile. Which probably needed a new name, now that the posts were signed, “Sincerely, Libby.”
The simple act of shedding theL-word—well, both of them, but especiallyLove—felt like a big step toward honesty. Libby’s mother had been big on tossing a “Love you, kiddo,” over her shoulder as she walked out the door, but she never looked back to see how Libby felt about being left behind or gave her daughter a chance to reply. Eventually Libby gave up—on the word as well as the feeling.
“I was afraid I was going to come home and see your little friend Jiminy in a top hat, doing tricks.” Jean clicked on one of the shots of Libby’s new acquaintance.
“I call him Rocheo.”
“First of all,” Jean said, passing the phone back to Libby, “no. And second, I’m pretty sure that was two different bugs. You had a ménage going.”
That tracked. Maintaining stable relationships wasn’t Libby’s strong suit. Unlike showing her ass on the Internet. “I guess I kind of lost my filter.”
“I like it.” Jean shrugged. “Why let Lillibet go gently into the night when you can take the nuclear option?”
