Page 97 of Shortcake
Therehadto be a good reason. I wasn’t questioning that. Conrad didn’t do anything without a good reason. But that was still beside the point.
“All I know is what I’ve already told you. That he was going to tell her last night, but she confessed things to him first and … it just… didn’t happen, okay? Can we drop it now?”
Enzo blew out a breath and leaned back on a display of new hardcovers in the center aisle. “You know what I think?”
“What?” Haylee asked, leaning in.
“Ithink this is not dropping it,” I muttered. But then again, I knew better than to think my friends would actually drop the subject.
“He needs guy friends,” Enzo said.
I snorted, picking up the new James Patterson novel and doing everything possible not to roll my eyes at her as I skimmed the inside flap. “Sure. Because bros who travel in packs are so much more well-adjusted?”
Enzo snatched the book out of my hands, forcing me to look at her. “I’mserious. And for the record, I think Simon needs more guy friends, too.”
“Doesn’t he have those…” I waved my hand in the air. “DnD friends or whatever?”
“Yeah, but they’rebothour friends. So he doesn’t hang out with them alone. Plus, we’re always in character on DnD nights, so we’re not really Simon and Enzo. We’re Leopalk and Jervis.”
A laugh barked out of me and I clapped my palm over my mouth to smother it amidst Enzo’s scowl. “I’m sorry,” I said, trying not to snicker. “Those names just came out of fucking nowhere and you said it with such a straight face that I didn’t have time for my brain to tell my mouth not to react.”
Deep breath, Addy. Stop laughing at your friend.
“Finn plays too, you know,” Enzo said, as if that helped her case at all.
This time, I didn’t try to cover my laugh. You were allowed to mock your brother. You weren’t always allowed to mock your best friend. “Oh,I know.” I’ve teased him mercilessly about his love of DnD for most of our teenage and adult years.
Enzo placed her hands on her hips defensively. “You might not laugh so hard at us if you joined one of our campaigns. You might even enjoy it.”
“You know,” Haylee chimed in, bringing her finger to her mouth in thought. “I think Enzo’s onto something.”
“You want to join the game too now?”
“God no,” Haylee scoffed, waving the thought off. “I think she’s onto something about Conrad and Simon needing guy friends. Hell, even Finn could use some. Other than me, you, your brothers, and Enzo, he doesn’t hang out with anyone.”
“See?” Enzo lifted her chin triumphantly into the air. “Think about it! We have each other to bounce things off of. Who does Conrad have?”
“Me,” I said, my voice small. “He only has me, really. I’m who he bounces things off of. And maybe Warren down at the station.”
“Hall monitor Warren?” Enzo said, disbelief widening her eyes.
“Yep. I’m not saying their friends or anything. But they work together. Maybe they talk about life things, too.”
“Or maybe they don’t,” Haylee offered.
Damn. That was even sadder. I nodded. “You’re right. He needs friends. He needs someone outside of this situation to be able to talk to and lean on. I’m no good because I’m just as deep in it as he is.”
Enzo smiled, seemingly proud of herself. “So that’s settled!”
“What’s settled?”
“We’ll introduce him to friends,” Enzo said just as Harper came bouncing up to us, two books in her arms.
“Introduce who to friends?”
“Your dad,” Enzo answered quickly.
My eyes widened. Well, dammit. So much for a cover story.
