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Thx, baby! Super hyped! Scouts from the Wild here—guess who they came for? Luv ya.
Riley dropped her phone on her lap. “Just wait until you have a boyfriend or girlfriend…”
“Might be sooner rather than later if Ben goes out with me.” Piper playfully nudged Riley.
“Actually…” Riley bit the inside of her cheek. “Josh isn’t my boyfriend anymore.”
“What? But you’re flying—”
“He’s my fiancé.”
“NOOO! You—!” Piper’s jaw dropped. “I can’t believe you said yes. I can’t believe you lied to me!”
“I didn’t—”
Piper raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, I did, but it’s only because I wanted to tell my mom first in person.”
“Did you tell your mom why you said yes?”
“No.”
“Of course you didn’t—she would’ve forced you to call it off.” Piper met her best friend’s eyes. “You don’t have to be with him just to help your mom, Rye. Let’s try a crowdfunding page. People do them all the time for medical shit.”
“Those things never work.”
With a pout, Piper flipped a page, then another, muttering under her breath. “But you’ll marry fucking Josh…yeah, that’ll work!”
“You can’t stay mad at me…”
“I will if you actually go through with it. Until that happens, there’s hope.” She ran a finger down the notes. “Did you tell Erika? I bet she’s thrilled.”
Riley nodded. “Yeah, last night. She kept bugging me with wedding advice. I told her four times to drop it. I need to concentrate on finishing school.”
“Yeah, you do.” Piper returned to the binder. “So, where were we?”
Fifty minutes later, empty packets of Nerds, stray Skittles, and class notes littered the floor. Riley couldn’t hold back a large tonsil-flashing yawn as Sia burst from her phone. She didn’t budge from her sofa slouch until she squinted at the lit screen. “Oh, it’s Mom!” With a lunge, she accepted the call. “Hi! What’s up? Pip’s here, going over lecture notes before I hop in the shower.”
“Hi Piper.”
Riley turned to her friend. “Mom says hi.” Piper waved in response.
Maggie cleared her throat. “How was last night?”
“It was okay. Erika had a blast—”
Piper leaned in. “RYE LEFT WITH A STRIPPER!”
“I did NOT! He’s just a friend I saw last night.”
“Yeah, she saw A LOT of him last night.” Piper laughed. “He stayed over, too.”
“PIP!” Riley elbowed her.
“Stayed over?” Maggie’s tone was concerned.
“Ignore her. She’s gone way over her sugar limit and it’s only ten-thirty. Ben’s roommate was having a party. He sleeps on the couch, so he couldn’t go home—”
