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“Oh yeah, I stole a house from him.”
“What?”
“He got it in my gram’s will and he didn’t deserve to have it,” I said. “He was gonna sell it to have the money to build a pool at his place.”
“I need this whole story,” Riley said. “But just from what I’m hearing, I’d rather have you as a friend.”
“Me too,” Lily added.
“Both of you are the first.”
“Then you were around shitty people,” Lily said. “You weresofriendly when we met. I didn’t even think you would want to know me because I’m nowhere in your sphere of niceness. You were friends with Riley first.”
“Friends is a strong word.”
“I wanted to be friends,” Riley said. “I figured you had too many, though. You’re so fun.”
My cheeks heated. That’s how people saw me?
Damn it. Emma was right. When I told her, she would never let me live it down.
“I guess I didn’t know that.”
“Do I have explicit permission to force you into friendship?” Riley asked. “I’ll do it.”
“I’ll help,” Lily added.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You totally do. You have my number.”
“You’re either gonna regret this or love this,” Riley said. “But I’ll start by giving you decaf for free.”
“You don’t have to?—”
“I owe you a wedding presentanda you-were-sick present. Shut the fuck up and let me do something for you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“It’s so nice to be talking to adults,” she said as she stepped to the side to grab coffee. “I can’t say fuck when I’m talking to my kids.”
She handed me the cup and deflated when she looked behind us. I did the same and saw a line had formed.
“I’ll talk to you later,” I offered with a bright smile.
“Life sucks when you have to do your job,” she muttered.
Lily grabbed my arm and led me to a table.
“Okay, so what have we learned today?” she asked.
“That my self-esteem sucks and it’s my parents’ fault?”
“And?”
“That I have friends?”
“Good. You’re learning.”
“I’m trying. Having Levi there really showed me that I need help in those moments. When Calvin fired me, I ran out of my medicine and didn’t see a way to get it. Levi made it happen.”