“About 3 months.”
“Oh, you get a summer break like teachers?”
I chuckle. “That’s not a good comparison. Teachers work way harder than I do. And my break is so long because we didn’t even make the first round of the playoffs.” I hang my head a bit, knowing it was because of me.
“Oh. I was just starting to get into basketball before we broke up. Then I just stopped watching or caring all together.” She looks up at me. “I had to.”
Now I feel even worse.
“Ugh, we keep dipping into darkness.”
“No, we’re talking about real life. These things happened.”
Sipping from her smoothie, Lily’s eyes meet mine. “Thank you for checking Joy the other day.”
“Her personality doesn’t match her name. And she’s really mad that Tank hasn’t married her yet. We all see it, but Tank’s oblivious.”
Her mouth forms an O, and she nods. “Tank is the big, big guy, right?”
“Yeah, Tank’s 6 foot 11. And he’s not skinny. He’s the big, big guy on our team.”
“Why hasn’t he married her? They have kids, right?”
“Three kids. All of them were huge babies.”
Lily cringes.
“Bloggers bring that up a lot.” I laugh. “They’ve been together since 11th grade.”
“Oh, I forgive her.” Lily shakes her head. “She’s fighting her own battles.”
“We all are,” I say.
Lily studies me for a second, like she’s trying to figure out if I mean it.
“You changed,” she says.
“I’m trying.”
She nods slowly. “It’s working.”
Chapter 24 Lily
“Don’t tell me you’re about to go out with him again,” Porsche says. She glares at me through the camera on my phone.
“I won’t,” I shrug.
“Y’all really back together?” she asks.
I shake my head. “No, we’re not back together, but we’re working on it.”
“And how has he changed this time? Remind me, please.”
I roll my eyes. I don’t think she liked him when we first started dating, so this is par for the course.
“Because he’s not the same, okay? He’s listening. He’s attentive. He’s taking care of me in a way that he didn’t before.”
“Taking care of you?” She raises her eyebrows.
