Page 13 of Not By the Playbook

It’s going to be a long fucking week in close quarters. We’re as chummy as North and South Korea. She was never supposed to stay with me in the first place, but when she mentioned moving to a hotel, Mom had a shit fit and insisted she move in with me.

And Becs can play DMZ.

We head back to the living space and spend a few more minutes chatting. When it’s time to say goodbye, Mom embraces Becs. “I look forward to seeing you again soon, Rebecca.”

A weak smile appears. “Same here, Mrs. Barnes.”

“We'll be at the opening game on Thursday. You'll be there too, right?” Dad says to her as he wraps a big arm around Mom’s shoulder.

Before Becs can drum up some excuse, I haul her to my side.Not so fast.“Yes, she'll be sitting with you.”

Rebecca’s expression falters, but she catches herself. Only I can feel her stiffen against me.

“Oh, how wonderful!” Mom says.

“Thursday?” Rebecca hisses once we are in the car.

“Later,” I respond, jerking my chin at Jenna. She’s finished her goodbyes and is right behind us.

Chapter Seven

LOGAN

“Logan,this isn’t the way to Brooklyn.” Rebecca’s tone climbs when I turn into the Midtown Tunnel towards Manhattan.

“Babe, you’re staying over, aren’t you?” I don’t take my eyes off the road. “Youalwaysstay over on Fridays.”

I can tell that Becs is seething. She slides a glance at Jenna in the rearview mirror. “Honey, I didn’t pack any clothes. Thought I’d stay home since your sister’s with you this weekend. I don’t want to get in the way.”

“You don’t need clothes.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Becs’s mouth drop and steam almost coming out of her ears. “I’ll drive you to your place tomorrow morning.”

I meet Jenna’s eyes in the reflection and shake my head. “Rebecca isn’t always the best planner.”

If looks could kill…The corner of my mouth lifts.

“Yes, please don’t let me stop you. I promised Logan I wouldn’t be in the way,” Jenna says.

“Ah…I guess. Okay,” Becs responds with obvious reluctance.

We drive the rest of the way home in silence. I don’t know when I consciously made the decision to keep Rebecca with me. I find Jenna in the mirror. I blame her. She’s sucked the life-force out of the car, and we are subsisting on fumes that are messing with my head.

It’s almost midnight by the time we arrive. Friday night traffic in New York is a bitch. Once we are upstairs in my penthouse, I turn to Jenna. “You have everything you need?”

She nods. “Yes, thank you. What do you have going on tomorrow?” Her voice is conciliatory.

“We’ll be around. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Just like the domesticated couple we are.”

She inclines her head, ever so slightly. “Well, I’m off to bed. Goodnight.”

Becs and I echo Jenna’s goodnights, and she grants us a regal wave from the threshold of her room. Should I have offered to set up a perch in there for her to hang by her feet?

I face my other roommate and gesture to the master bedroom. “Shall we?”

Without meeting my eyes, Rebecca stalks past me, and a blend of tangerine and peaches tickles my nose.

Becs whips around the moment the door shuts behind us and hisses, “Breakfast, lunch,anddinner?”

“She bought it, didn’t she? C’mon, she was less feral than this morning.” I stand with my hands in my pockets. “And this was your idea, remember?”

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