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“Jo, Jo, Jo,” Juniper chanted as she twirled around the room.

I’ll be thereJo sent.

If I got through Friday without a breakdown, I was going to consider that a win.

Chapter Five

Jo

I was nervous as hell when I showed up at Larison’s apartment on Friday. Things had been fine with Juniper, but what was going to happen when I had to tell her not to do something? Was she going to listen to me or scream “you’re not my mom!” and stomp off to slam her door? What if something bad happened on my watch?

Something bad couldn’t happen on my watch. I couldn’t let Larison down and not just because she was hot. That wasn’t even in the top five reasons I shouldn’t let her down.

Larison let me into the building and I walked up the stairs to their second-floor apartment.

The door opened right away when I knocked.

“Hey,” Larison said and I almost fell over. Unfortunately, she was even hotter now than she’d been on Tuesday. It didn’t seem possible, yet here she was, standing there in a pair of paint-stained shorts and a baggy T-shirt that had holes in it looking like my dream come true. Hair up in a ponytail with a few strands escaping. Barely any makeup, her cheeks naturallyflushed from whatever she’d been doing before she opened the door.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I was interrupted by Juniper rushing to the door.

“Hi, Jo!” She waved frantically as if I wasn’t going to see her.

“Hey, Juniper! Are you excited to hang out today?” I shifted my bag on my shoulder. I’d brought a ton of stuff with me, probably too much, but I wasn’t above bribery if a situation called for it.

She just grabbed my hand and yanked me inside. For a kid, she was strong enough that she’d pulled me off balance and I nearly crashed into Larison.

“Sorry!”

“Juniper, we don’t drag people like that,” Larison said, her hands fluttering a little as we both steadied ourselves. I set my bag down and followed Juniper into the living room. She’d set the little dragon I’d give her on the coffee table on what looked like a folded-up washcloth.

“Did you give them a name?” I asked her as we sat down together on the couch.

“Hims name is Mozzarella,” she said, patting the little dragon on the head.

“Mozzarella. That’s a great name for a dragon,” I said, glancing at Larison.

“We went through a lot of names, didn’t we? I had to list all the different kinds of cheese. Havarti was the second choice.”

I couldn’t help but snort. Havarti was also a good name for a dragon.

“Why don’t I show you where everything is?” Larison said.

“Me too!” Juniper said, getting up and taking my hand.

They both gave me a tour of the apartment and Larison gave me a rundown of rules and emergency numbers and routines. I made notes on my phone of nearly everything, just in case.

“If all else fails, just send me a message. I might be on a call, but I’ll do my best to respond as fast as I can.”

I nodded, trying to remember everything she’d told me and knowing that I wouldn’t.

“Got it.”

Juniper said she had to use the bathroom, so she scampered off and Larison took that moment to talk to me without her daughter hearing.

“If she gives you a hard time, just call me. I’ve already talked to her about respecting you and that you have as much authority as I do, but…” she trailed off.

“Yeah, I know. I’m prepared if and when that happens. Not a big deal. This isn’t my first, second, or third rodeo.” Why the hell had I said that? I sounded like a dork.