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“They were the best.”

We lie quietly, my mind going to what my life might have been like if my parents would have given me up for adoption. How it would have been growing up with two people who were interested in being parents.

“I’m sorry. Brody told me about your mom and dad and how they’re never around. I shouldn’t complain about my situation.”

“It’s okay. Your pain is yours, mine is mine. I’m realizing everyone has something they’re dealing with.”

“Since neither of us have any siblings, maybe we can be soul sisters,” she suggests.

“I would love to have you as a sister.” I pause, staring at the ceiling. “Thank you for helping me face Ash today. I don’t think it was really about the makeup. I was just scared to see him again.”

If she’s willing to be my sister, maybe I can confide my fears with her. “A couple from the club is taking me in. I’m nineteen. I know I should just find a place of my own, but I long for a glimpse of what it’s like to have a real family. If I don’t get that, how will I ever be able to raise one of my own? I don’t even know what home feels like.”

She picks up my stuffed Toto and hugs it to her chest. “There’s no place like home,” she whispers.

My heart aches at the sadness in her voice. “Do you miss home?” I ask.

“I do, but I need some time. My head is a mess.”

“Is it the fact they didn’t tell you, or is it something deeper than that?”

Her eyes meet mine in the dark. “I’ve always thought something was wrong with me because I’m not like them. I’m different. They are the light. I am dark. I’ve spent my whole life hiding it from them … from the world. If they had told me, I don’t know, maybe I would have understood myself a little better.”

“I see the light in you. Can’t it be true that you’re both?”

She smiles. “I guess, but if that’s true for me, it can be for you too.”

“That’s debatable. How did you find out about being adopted?”

The smile instantly falls from her face. “I thought I’d earned a scholarship to study art in Paris. My room and board were included. It was a literal dream come true. I was so excited to explore my art away from everyone who knew me. To delve into the darker side of my creativity.”

My mind goes to the painting downstairs.

“Anyway, when I got there, the Dean told me my biological father had paid for everything. I didn’t get a scholarship. He was an artist, too.”

My eyes widen. “Wow. Yeah, I bet that was a shock.”

“It made me go down a rabbit hole for sure. I left school before it really even started. I’ve felt so lost and alone. I was grasping at straws to make sense of it all. Until I met up with Brody in Reno. He’s kept my feet firmly on the ground.”

I chuckle sadly. “The men of the club have a way of doing that. I don’t know what it is about them. Are you guys a couple then?”

“I don’t know what we are.”

“I can relate to that.”

Here in the dark, we’re just two girls. One with a family, one with none, both trying to figure out where we belong.

She hands Toto back to me, but I press him against her chest. “Keep him.”

Her little pinky finds mine in the dark. “Soul sisters.”

Another piece of my heart heals a little. “Soul sisters,” I agree.

Chapter Twenty-One

Ash

I’m packing a lunch for us when I feel her behind me. She’s trying to be quiet, but it’s not enough to get past me.