Alice smiled, watching them go.“She’s not going to stop, you know.”
“I know,” Ender said.“I just like complaining about it.”
Wrecker chuckled under his breath, tapping his fingers lightly against the table.
This was the life.
The club.The routine.The kind of nights that didn’t ask for anything more than showing up.
It should’ve been enough.Still… I leaned back in my chair, and my gaze drifted for half a second longer than it needed to the counter.
Ever was on a date.
I pushed the thought away.Ever dating had nothing to do with me.
Chapter Three
Ever
The house was quiet when I got home.
Not the kind of quiet that felt empty.Just… still.Settled.Like it had been waiting for me to come back and fill it up again.
I pushed the front door closed behind me, the soft click echoing a little more than it should have in a place this big.My keys hit the hook by the door out of habit, and my purse slid onto the bench beneath it as I kicked off my shoes.
The hardwood floors were cool under my feet as I stepped further inside, the faint smell of lemon cleaner lingering in the air from when I’d wiped everything down that morning before work.Old habits.My mom had drilled that into me early.Clean as you go, clean before you leave, and clean before you relax.
The lights in the kitchen were still on, casting a warm glow over the wide-open space.I must’ve left them on when I rushed out earlier, too busy overthinking what to wear and then rethinking it again before settling on something that didn’t make me want to crawl out of my own skin.
I walked into the kitchen, running my hand along the edge of the island as I passed.It was big.Bigger than any kitchen had a right to be, really.My parents had always joked that they built it this way because they couldn’t stop bringing work home from the Dairy Bar.
And it wasn’t really a joke.
This was where it had all started.The menu.The recipes.The trial and error that turned into what the Dairy Bar was now.Late nights and early mornings, spilled milk on the counters, grease splattered on the stove, and my mom scribbling notes while my dad taste-tested everything like it was his job.
Which, I guess, it kind of had been.
Now the counters were clean, the appliances quiet, everything in its place.
It felt… different without them here.Not bad, just quieter than it used to be.
I opened the fridge and scanned the shelves.Leftovers, condiments, a few containers of things my mom had prepped before they left for the cabin.
And wine coolers.
I grabbed one, twisting the cap off as I shut the fridge with my hip.The first sip was cold and a little too sweet, but I didn’t care.
I moved through the house without thinking about it, drifting past the living room with its oversized couch and the second family room my parents insisted we needed even though we barely used it.Four bedrooms sat down the hallway.Mine at the end, the others mostly empty now except for the occasional weekend visit or when my parents decided to stay home longer than expected.
Three bathrooms.A rec room in the basement with a pool table and ping pong table that had seen more action when I was in high school than it had in the last few years.
The place was… a lot.
Not exactly normal for someone my age.
Most people I knew were in apartments or sharing houses with roommates, figuring things out one paycheck at a time.
Me?
