She handed me her phone and I thought about throwing it for a second, but I fought against that urge.
Sterling had pulled up a social media page and I didn’t have to scroll to realize it was Lacey’s. There she was, carefully crafting rings and necklaces and earrings. The pieces were mostly silver, and they were gorgeous, with a kind of rough and rustic feel. I had to admit, she was talented.
So that was what she’d needed to catch up on this weekend. Her most recent post was put up today, so that made sense.
“Did you see the ring with the rose quartz?” Sterling asked.
“No,” I said, scrolling down.
“I think you’d like it.”
I found the ring and Sterling was right. I did like it. The ring had a rough teardrop-shaped rose quartz stone with silver vines wrapped around it that formed the band. There was a touch of whimsy to it that didn’t normally call to me, but for some reason, this captured me.
“Anyway, you should ask her about her business and then offer to take her out for coffee, and then…” She trailed off.
I shoved the phone back at her. “I don’t need your relationship help, thank you.”
“You don’t? When was your last relationship?” What the hell was this? Interrogate Gwen about her love life day?
“When was yours?” I fired back at her.
“She’s right here,” Sterling said, pointing to Kai, who’d been reading on her ereader.Kai waved a few fingers without looking up.
“And before her?” I asked.
Sterling gazed at Kai. “Nothing before her matters.”
“Babe,” Kai said finally looking up and smiling so hard I thought it would break her face. She leaned over and kissed Sterling.
“You say the sweetest things sometimes,” Kai whispered as Sterling stroked her face.
“I love the truth, remember?” Sterling said, and I had to look away from them again.
“My point is,” Sterling said, finally ripping her eyes away from Kai, “it’s obvious that you like her and she’s not here with anyone. Give it a shot. The worst thing she can do is say no.”
Sterling would think that. “The worst thing she could do is accuse me of being a creep and dragging the name of my brand-new business through the mud. I’m not risking this for a crush.”
Sterling’s eyes lit up. “Aha! So you admit you have a crush on her.” She pointed an accusing finger at me.
“Get that out of my face,” I said, batting her finger away, but she just pointed with the other hand, so I tried to get that to stop and before I knew it, Sterling was tickling me mercilessly.
“Stop it, you’re being a child!” I said through giggles.
“Admit you have a crush on her!”
“Fine! I have a crush on her!” I said and she stopped. I panted, wiping tears from my eyes. Sterling just grinned at me.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” I said, sitting up and adjusting my glasses.
“It worked, didn’t it?” she asked.
“I’m going to get you back for that, mark my words. When you least expect it, I’m going to get my revenge,” I said, wiggling my fingers at her. She knew I was ticklish, but she was too.
“Now who’s being childish?” she asked.
“You brought me down to your level,” I said, and I realized Kai had been watching us with a small smile on her face. She looked away when I met her eyes, but she didn’t hide her smile.
Chapter Seven