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So order them. You’re right. This is a problem your money can solve Cade responded quicker than I thought she would.

Her words coming from anyone else would have made me angry, but Cade didn’t mean it in a negative way. She and Reid were probably the only people in the world who could tease me about my trust fund, and it didn’t make me want to stab them.

But I can’t order the good cookies and I need the good cookies I responded. I knew I was whining, but I didn’t care.

Oh boo fucking hoo Reid finally chimed in.

She had very little patience for me when I said things like this.

Fine. I’ll order the less good cookies. But you’re going to hear me bitch about it I responded.

It was nice being able to order cookies to be delivered to your apartment at night.

Why don’t you just learn how to make cookies the way you want? Then you’d have them all the time. Reid said, using too much logic.

Cookies aren’t as good when you’re the one making them Cade said, taking the words right out of my brain.

What she said I agreed.

I have to go back to work Reid responded in her typical grumpy way. She really did need to get another job so she could cut back her hours at Sapph. The money was good, but it really took over her life and she barely had time for anything else.

We love you, crossing my fingers for good tips Cade sent.

Thank you. Now stop bugging me Reid responded. The funny thing was that if we left her out of the group chat, she’d get pissed at us for not including her. Reid was a complicated person and I didn’t think I’d ever truly figure her out, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

Another message came in as I was waiting for the cookies.

Do you have any food allergies? It was from Stace.

No, why? I asked.

Just wanted to make sure before I brought you something that you couldn’t eat, or that would harm you. My youngest brother has celiac, so I’m always making sure.

There was something so open and genuine about Stace and it took my breath away.

Thank you for checking I responded.

You’re welcome. Sorry if I’m keeping you up. My sleep schedule is all messed up so I never really know when an appropriate time to talk to someone is she sent.

I put my phone on silent when I’m sleeping, so don’t worry about it I replied.

I was so used to my schedule that I couldn’t imagine working overnight shifts like she did. Very few people could handle something like that without burning out fast.

Well, I apologize in advance if I send you a message at a random time she sent.

Apology pre-accepted I responded.

This was how I’d expected her to be when she first got my number. It was almost a relief that I’d been right about how she would be.

One of the nastiest surprises in life was when you’d made your mind up about someone and then they turned out to be completely different. So many people I’d known throughout my life had been like that. My parents, especially. In public they smiled and pretended they were a power couple. Smiling at each other. Touching, but not too much. Laughing with each other and using pet names.

And then the moment they got home, they pulled off those layers and went back to hating the other person so much they couldn’t breathe the same air so they had to retreat to opposite ends of the house. He had his rooms, she had her rooms, and I was an entity that floated in between. Often I used to wonder what might have happened if I’d had a sibling. It would have been nice to have someone to share the house with.

Stace’s house had no doubt been loud when she was growing up. She’d been older when her younger brothers were born, but I still imagined a lot of noise and chaos. Sports equipment everywhere and after school snacks and homework spread on the dining room table.

Part of me wanted to ask her about it. To know what that had been like. To know what I’d missed. To maybe imagine what my life would have been like in another family. One like hers.

The cookies arrived, interrupting my juvenile thoughts. None of that shit mattered anymore. I was an adult now.