“So she’s kind of pretty.”
“If homeless crybabies are your thing.”
He ignores me. “You, on the other hand”—he turns to face me—“you’re a dick.”
I offer him my broadest smile, but it doesn’t land.
“Care to expand on that?”
He holds up a thumb to kick off the list. “For starters, you act like you have a serious personality disorder when you’re around her.”
“Dude, I was really nice on the first day.”
“And instead of helping her out of a shitty situation, you kick her while she’s down,” he says, adding his index finger to the tally.
“I helped her on the first day,” I insist.
“She’s all alone, Lane!” He flicks up his middle finger.
“So what? What am I—a charity? I like living by myself, end of discussion.”
He’s grinding his teeth, ruffling his hair. He gazes out the window, suddenly lost in thought.
“Deep down, you know that’s not the issue,” he sighs, turning back to me.
“Don’t start with that, Cart,” I rasp.
“Start with what? You bring him up all the time, and now all of a sudden we shouldn’t mention him? Whenever I come over, we somehow always end up talking about Mike. And you know what?” He stares at me. “Since I dropped you off over the weekend, you haven’t mentioned him. Not even once.”
“We haven’t hung out since then.”
“So you’re not denying it—”
“First of all, my brother has nothing to do with any of this. Second of all, I don’t always bring him up.”
At least, I don’tthinkI do.
“It’s been three years, and we still talk about him every day, dude. And I don’t mind that, I really don’t. I miss Mike, too. We were bestfriends since we were in diapers, since before you were even born, Laney.”
“Adorable,” I snort.
“I’m just saying that giving her a place to crash could be a good thing—something new to keep your mind busy. I’m not telling you to put her up forever, but why not help her out? The room is—”
“The room is Mike’s room!” I slam a fist down on the counter, and Lois’s eyes dart over to me. The music blasting from her ears means she can’t hear us, but she must have noticed me lash out.
“Okay, okay.” Carter holds up his hands. “That part is harder, I get that. But how ’bout the couch? It’s a little basic, sure—but it would do, just for a couple of days while she gets back on her feet.”
“You’re killing me here!”
“Come on, Lane. You know it makes sense. Helping someone in their hour of need… It’s good for the soul, especially for a guy like you. Maybe it’ll get rid of some of that guilt you’ve been carrying around.”
I turn away from him, clutching the edge of the sink. He has pissed me off so bad, I’m this close to heading out for a drive. He came over to work, and instead here he is, hosting the fuckingDr. Carter Show.
What did I do to deserve friends like these?
“Remember when you had to retake your freshman year, how mad and hurt you were that fall? Remember how you didn’t want any friends, you just wanted to be left alone, and I had to give you a kick up the ass when Lewis and Adam came over to say hi? And then Donovan showed up, and now you four are like brothers?” He pauses, waiting for the words to sink in. “Who knows? Maybe now Lois needs a bit of that herself.” He snorts, easing the tension. “Lois Lane, for fuck’s sake! If that’s not fate, I don’t know what is!”
“If you’re that concerned, why don’tyoutake her back to your place?”
