Page 41 of Endgame

Navy:What happened? You never pull out the code words.

Dakota:Can you meet at Java in an hour?

Navy:You got it, babe. Be ready to spill.

I didn’t planon using our code words.

Navy came up with the mayday slang during our senior year of college. She created it to act as a date buffer when things went south. But lately, it’s been used more for our venting sessions, ones I find myself needing more and more. Coincidently, most of them concern the other Hayes child. I’ve avoided calling her to vent for that very reason.

Fortunately for her, I’m in over my head at this point. With Navy working for the Strikers, she’s bound to see us. Not that there is anusor we’redoinganything, but she’s my best friend, and I can’t keep this from her. I’ll decide when we meet face to face the extent of what I’ll share.

The friendship Navy and I have is one of low maintenance, and I’m eternally grateful for that.

I didn’t have the time or the energy to put effort into myoutfit today. I chose leggings and an oversized graphic tee with my neutral and white Dunks. My hair is still sporting yesterday’s styling cream, resembling a chaotic bird's nest more than a messy bun.

Joy fills me when I see her.

Hilarious, piss yourself joy. She might look worse than I do, however.

It’s rare to see Navy out of sorts; her physical aesthetic is always on lockdown.Not today, though, Navy girl.

My best friend is wearing a patterned Mumu dress that looks like a torn towel her grandmother sewed from nothing—better looking on a dining room table than on her. The best part is that she’s wearing bright pink shin-high socks with turquoise toucans sealed to perfection under her Birkenstocks.

Jesus, she looks like a clown.

I’m so happy to be in her presence I could cry.

Entering Java, I fall to the floor in hysterics when Navy notices me heading towards her. She looks like she needs to find the nearest restroom or something of that nature, as she bounces in her seat and looks to be sweating. I’d be sweating too if I were suffocating my body weight in thick fabric. She’s seated in our designated booth, backed up to a wall full of shelved succulents. Her outfit is throwing off the whole earthy suburban coffee shop vibe.

If only I can sneak a picture...

I’m unable to help myself from mocking her. I hunch over like I forgot my cane. “Good golly, the early bird sure does get the worm, isn’t that right sweet pea? I had to break out the MapQuest to get here.”

Her eye roll brings me immense happiness.

“Hilarious. Enough with the grandma jokes. You’re terrible at it, anyway. I’m aware my outfit is strange fortoday, but I had a rough night, okay. You called with code words, Kodi, so I threw on anything I could find.”

I’m still laughing, knowing she’s fighting back a smile. “So, a Mumu was the only available clothing option?”

If looks could kill, I’d be clawed alive by now.

“Oh, shut up. You look like bird poop and piss harvested a nest on your head. What’d you do? Refuse to shower and proceed with an updo from the 90’s?”

This right here. This is why she will always be my person. We’re both twisted and broken down, but we get each other without words needed in exchange. I slide into the booth beside her, rolling my eyes as my choice of response, while I gather every emotion I can to show her how much she means to me.

I hug her so tight it gives her no choice but to hug me back.

Navy groans in response to my affection before ordering I tell her what the urgency is.She’s not going to like this.

She’s my best friend and I owe her the truth. But she’s protective of Callaway, so this could go in an entirely different direction.

“I asked your brother to fuck me.”

Suddenly, there’s coffee in my face—an ice-cold sugary concoction that plunges me in embarrassment at the forwardness of my statement.

She spit her coffee in my face.

Her face tells me she isn't angry, but that was the last thing she expected me to share. “Kodi, a warning would have been lovely. You talking to me about Callaway is not what surprised me. It’s the fact thatyou asked him to fuck youthat’s throwing me off. Because what in the actual fuck?”

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