Page 24 of Girl Going Nowhere

It’s been ashitty day, and it only gets worse when I get home and see the somber look on Dante’s face.

I drop my bag onto the counter, noticing the small pair of shoes that have been absent for the past few days placed neatly by the door, and turn my attention back to the man clenching a bottle of beer in his hands at the kitchen island. “What’s wrong?”

His jaw tics for a moment before his fingers loosen on the glass sweating with condensation. “I need a favor,” he murmurs under his breath.

It’s not often I hear those words, so I know they must mean something. I bump his arm before dropping into the stool across from him. “Sure, man. What?”

His teeth grind before he says, “My half-brother needs a place to crash for a week or two. Nothing permanent. He called a few hours ago.”

No shit. He’s mentioned his brother a couple of times. They’re not close, but they check in on each other occasionally. It’s better communication than he has with the rest of his family. I can’t remember the dude’s name, but he sends holiday and birthday cards here and always seems decent the few times I’ve heard him and Dante on the phone.

“Areyouokay with that?” I ask carefully. I couldn’t care less. The couch pulls out for guests in times like these.

He pauses. “Guess so.”

I snort. “Real convincing. What’s he up to that’s bringing him to New York?”

My roommate lifts the beer to his lips and takes a long swig. “He’s got a job lined up in Philadelphia but is waiting to get a place figured out. Kind of surprised he wants to stay here while he waits to hear back, but he said it’d be good to see me.”

When I asked Dante about him once before, he said he was in the sports industry like him. I figured it meant he was a journalist too. It wasn’t my business to push. “Philly is nice,” is all I remark.

I understand why he doesn’t talk about his parents. His dad has been to prison for domestic abuse on more than one occasion, and his mom reaches out to him only when she needs something. His brother seems to be the only person he gets along with relatively well, yet I barely know anything about him or their relationship.

And just when I’m tempted to ask, Blake walks in with Maia clinging to her. Dante presses his lips together, shooting me a warning look that tells me not to bother prying.

My lips twitch downward before I turn to the girls we’ve missed around here. Blake’s hair is different, and the tired shadows normally under her eyes are gone. “Hey. Did you have a good weekend?”

She smiles, pecking her daughter’s cheek. “I did. Emily and I both needed it. But I missed this little monkey.” She tickles Maia until the little girl squirms with fits of giggles and unlatches her arms from around her mother’s neck.

“It was weird without you here,” I admit, smiling at the two of them.

Dante grunts before pushing off the stool and grabbing his drink. “I’ll let him know it’s cool to come. Thanks, man.” He dips his chin at our other roommate without really paying her any attention as he walks by. “Blake.”

Once Dante’s closed in his room, Blake turns to me. “His brother?” she guesses, setting her daughter in the booster seat I pulled up to the table for them.

I nod. “Did he ask you about it already?”

“Yeah, when I got home. He seems… off about it. Should I be worried? I’ve never met his brother and his family history seems complicated from what I’ve heard. I’m not one to judge or anything, but…”

I stifle the snort. “Complicated,” I muse dryly, watching her grab food from the fridge and a cutting board from the cabinet. “That’s a good way to describe it. But no. There’s no reason to worry. His brother is good. A lot like Dante, I think.”

She doesn’t seem particularly sold on it, not that she and Dante have anything against each other. He’s quiet, and she doesn’t push him to say more than he offers when they do converse. He likes that about her because most people aren’t as lenient with his silence.

I watch as she prepares Maia’s dinner, lips twitching as she carefully cuts the crust off the sandwich since we both know Maia girl wouldn’t eat it otherwise. Reaching over, I pluck the crusts from the board and wink when she glances at me with a sheepish smile.

“Your hair looks nice,” I compliment, playfully flicking one of the blond highlights. “It makes the gray in your eyes stand out more.”

She looks refreshed, something I haven’t seen her be in a long time. The guys and I try taking turns watching over Maia to give her small breaks, but I know it’s not like having an entire weekend to relax and catch up on sleep.

If that’s what she was doing.

My nostrils twitch at the possibility of her doing anything else. It’s not my place, though. “So, uh, what’d you two do?” She hadn’t messaged any of us all weekend. I’m sure she spoke to her parents regularly to check in on Maia, but that’s it. Whatever happened while she was away is a mystery I’m itching to be clued in on.

After she passes Maia her dinner, she turns to me and starts cleaning off everything. “We did girly things. Gossiped. Got our nails done. Obviously, our hair. Thanks, by the way. I forgot what getting doted on feels like.” She lets out a soft sigh, pausing as she runs water over the soapy board in her hands. “It was nice to get away and see her. There’s a lot I miss about having her around. Not that you guys aren’t great.”

“We know our company isn’t the same as having Emily around,” I reason.

She momentarily studies Maia, who’s happily munching away on her turkey sandwich and fruit without a care in the world. “Sometimes I feel bad for missing the days when it was only Emily and me against the world.” Her eyes meet mine, glazed with somberness. “Does that make me a bad mom? I love Maia, obviously—”

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