Page 17 of Whirlwind
“Glo’s?”
“Fuck yeah! Smothered hashbrowns sound amazing right now.”
“Rough night?” Willa teases.
“As rough as it gets for me. One of my old coworkers started playingFallout 76not long ago and wanted to take advantage of the double XP this weekend. We farmed the queen for hours.”
“I know what very little of that means, but I’m glad you had fun.”
“I did, thank you.”
“What level are you now?”
“Fourteen-hundred and something.”
“Damn, girl,” Willa exclaims. “You were low five-hundreds before I moved out.”
“Yeah, I have less best friend time, now, which means, more game time,” I say. Then, I notice the frown on her face. “Don’t do that, Willa.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have moved in with the guys so quickly.”
“Of course, you should have.”
“But you’re alone.”
“That’s my normal, you know that. It was weird living with someone else,” I tell her. Though we both know it’s a white lie. I loved living with Willa, but I wasn’t upset that she fell in love and moved out. “I like my me time almost as much as I like that you’re happy.”
“I know you do. I worry about you, though.”
“I took care of myself before I knew you. I’m sure I haven’t forgotten how.”
“You didn’t manage breakfast this morning,” she reminds me.
“Okay, true,” I admit. “But only because I was distracted.”
Willa glances my way and laughs.
“By a certain NHL player doing yoga?”
“Shut up,” I say, making her laugh more.
We grab breakfast and conversation steers clear of my neighbor. Instead, we talk about the trip she’s planning duringthe off season. She finished her PhD program last summer. Zan and Damian promised her a celebratory trip this year. They’re talking about Thailand in one of those fancy over-the-water bungalows. Willa is ridiculously excited, and who could blame her? Two weeks on a beautiful beach sound amazing.
Even I wouldn’t be opposed, although I’m partial to low humidity and lower temperatures.
After breakfast, we hit the first of the secondhand stores we plan to visit. It’s a smaller, carefully curated collection of items. Each one is unique, and I find a side table with a purple giraffe base. It reminds me of Nightmare’s favorite toy, so I can’t pass it up.
Willa snags a vintage duster that looks like something Stevie Nicks would have worn on stage.
The next few stores aren’t as fruitful, but we still manage a couple of treasures.
I’m pooped by the time we get the haul home, unloaded, and I take Nightmare for a walk. When I finally settle for the night in front of my television, there’s a friend request sitting on my Xbox that I hadn’t noticed before.
I click on the profile, realizing it can only be from Tyson, and see a long list of sports games, as well as the shooters that are most popular with men. We do have a handful of games in common, though.
Finding it harmless, since he knows where I live anyway. I accept the request from PuckBuddie.
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