She tossed her phone under the coffee table, the boredom seeping off her. “It’s fiiiine. Cars are ruining our environment and communities anyway.”
“So if your dad buys you a car for your sixteenth birthday, you’re going to say no thanks?”
She smirked. “Well, if he’d already bought it, I wouldn’t say no. That would just be wasteful.”
“Totally,” I said. “Strong logic.”
We finishedMy Best Friend’s Weddingas we shared the last of a pint of ice cream, and by the time we were done, Brigid was yawning and practically using Marlon as a pillow.
“Is your mom coming to get you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “She doesn’t get home from work for a few more hours.”
“You want to wait for your dad? You can always sleep here.”
“Or maybe you could give me a ride home and I could use this as a chance to guilt him into a pair of Golden Gooses?”
“I don’t know what those words mean, but yeah, sure. Let me grab my keys.”
“Can I drive?” she asked. “Legally, I’m allowed to with an adult in the car.”
“This feels like a trick,” I said as we made our way out to the parking lot. “Besides, unlike your dad’s electric car, mine takes regular old gasoline. I wouldn’t want to sully your eco reputation.”
She rolled her eyes and held a hand out for my keys. This was probably not a good idea. Eli might be mad. And I didn’t even know her mother. But for reasons I was not willing to confront, I really, really wanted Brigid to like me.
I dangled the keys in front of her. “Which side is the gas?”
“The right,” she said. “Brake is on the left. I’ll stop and look both ways at every stop sign and I’ll only take residential streets home.”
“Oh good,” I said. “More pedestrians for us to murder.”
She squinted, her brow furrowed just like I’d seen Eli do so many times when he got the joke but didn’t think it was especially clever. He made you earn every laugh, and it seemed that Brigid did too. “Are you just eternally worried? Is that exhausting?”
I dropped the keys into her open palm. “Terribly.”
We got in the car, and Brigid adjusted the seat to her liking, then buckled her seat belt and flipped through the radio until she found the local top one hundred station that was currently playing “all your favorite TikTok hits.”
As we set off down some back roads that seemed to take the long way around downtown, Brigid rolled the windows down and consistently went five miles under the speed limit. I wasn’t going to complain. The streets were relatively quiet, so I rolled my window down too, and okay, fine, I sort of felt like the cool girl I never was.
Eli’s house was only a short ten-minute drive away and was at the center of a neighborhood full of mid-century modern gems. Brigid pulled into a driveway in front of a sprawling ranch with a pitched A-frame. Warm lights lit the breeze-block wall surrounding the entryway.
“You’re sure you’re going to be okay here by yourself?” I asked as she pulled up the parking brake like a pro.
With a death stare, she said, “Thanks for letting me drive your car.” She opened the door and stood, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. “Just don’t tell my mom, okayyy?”
“Brigid! Seriously?”
She turned around with another eye roll, but this time she wasn’t annoyed. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! But maybe don’t say anything just in case. See you around, Vera! Oh, and by the way, you have my approval to hook up with my dad.”
“Oh... um, thanks?”
“You’re welcome!” she sang.
Chapter Thirty-One
When I got back to the property, I pulled up to the security gates, but Victor, who worked most nights, didn’t automatically let me in. He leaned out the window of his little hut and pointed to a black Ferrari SUV that I immediately recognized.
Brody stood leaning against the hood with his arms crossed. He wore black jeans and a white T-shirt that stretched across his biceps. I didn’t feel the usual fluttery feelings, though. Instead, I felt a distinct sense of dread.
