Because it feels like I found a new track here.
Griffin and I are assessing the baguette selection—some made withorganic speltno less—in between kisses when I hear a familiar gasp.
“Casey?You’re the one holding up the line?”Claire grabs my arm, and I spin to face her.My eyes go wide.
Shit, it’s really my sister.
“Claire!”I feel my cheeks get hot, and I’m not sure why.Maybe because Griffin and I have been canoodling more than selecting bread and we got called out on it.“Hey!Fancy meeting you here.”I laugh nervously, my arm brushing up against Griffin’s side.Thoughts of panic and anxiety flood me; nervousness is my go-to with her.Expecting myself to fuck up.Make a misstep.Ruin the day.
“Hey, Claire.Good to see you.”Griffin’s smooth, confident voice grounds me, and I stand a little taller.
“Wow, you two are…really getting cozy, huh?”Claire laughs a little as her gaze rakes over us.I can’t tell if she’s pleased or unnerved by the idea of us together.“I thought you were just roommates, but…clearly not.”
Clearly.Even though we keep trying to convince the world otherwise.
“It’s been a fun summer, that’s for sure,” I manage to say.
“I wouldn’t know, I’ve barely seen you.”Claire’s clipped tone as she inspects the bread makes something deep in my gut go tight.My entire body is on alert.
“She’s been working her tail off this summer,” Griffin supplies coolly, squeezing my hand.“She’s the top selling bartender at Brews on the Bay, and she started a TikTok account that’s blowing up.”
I swat at his chest.“It’s notblowing up.”
“Your video yesterday hit ten thousand views,” he protests.
“Yeah, but that’s not, like,viral,” I clarify.
Claire watches us both with raised brows.“Certainly a lot going on here.And in such a short time!Maybe Jake was over for even longer than you let on.”
The digs don’t stop.But with Griffin at my side, I can think a little clearer.I feel steadier.“It’s hard to say when exactly I emotionally checked out of that relationship, even if we were physically together.It was hard being treated like an obligation instead of someone’s…favorite person.”
I’m bracing for snark or a snotty comeback.For her to spin it as one of my flaws.Instead she picks up a small loaf of banana nut bread and turns it over in her hands.“Well, I suppose it’s a good thing you realized that.So does this mean Griffin’s going to be your plus one?”
I look up at Griffin expectantly.We haven’t talked about this at all, but now that she’s brought it up, I won’t accept any other plan.“What do you think, Griff?Be my plus one?”
He grins down at me.Like I’m his favorite person.I already know he’s mine.
“Yeah.I’d love to.”
“That settles that,” Claire says with a little laugh.“Case, just send me the updated meal preference ASAP, okay?”She gives us her networking smile and finger waves at us.“Gotta run, guys.See you soon.”
I feel odd once she’s gone, disjointed, somehow, like my head and body disconnected and are floating on opposite ends of the market.We buy our baguette and roam the farmer’s market a bit more.But I can’t shake the interaction.I’m combing through the last few times we spoke.And then the last few years.Whatever broke between us, it broke so long ago I can’t even find the crack.
“Wanna say what’s on your mind?”Griffin finally asks.He’s led us toward the grassy, shaded area on the boulevard.We sit on a park bench between two flower beds packed with petunias and marigolds, looking out at the farmer’s market.
“I’m just tired of this…thingbetween me and Claire,” I say with a sigh.“The second I realized it was her at the market, I got jumpy.I felt like I was sixteen again, being cut down by my big sister.It doesn’t go away.And now that she’s gone, all I can think about is what she’ll tell our parents.How I moved in with my friend and was caught canoodling at the market too fast after my break-up.”
“Well, that’s not so bad,” Griffin begins.
“But she caught me.I hadn’t told her already.And it just fits into this stupid pattern—she catches me, I hedge, and then she gets mad that I didn’t tell her sooner.”
“Well…why don’t you tell her things sooner?”
“Because she’s always a bitch to me,” I say on an exhale.My body deflates and my head drops to his shoulder.“And I just can’t take any more of it.”
Griffin covers my knee with his hand, squeezing it gently.There’s a few moments of silence before he says, “I kinda get what you’re going through.Piper did something similar with me.And has for…her entire life.”
I sit up, looking him in the eye.“Seriously?”
