Page 41 of Nerd Girl

Aubrey let out a low whistle. “How did you let it get this bad?”

“Hey.” I barked out the reprimand. “This isn’t on her. Travis. Predatory lending.”

The pen clattered to the table when Evie dropped it. “No, this is on me.” The energy that had been there an hour ago was gone. “Aubrey’s right. I shouldn’t have let it get this far.”

“So let’s fix it,” Alys said. “Bake sale. Lemonade stand. Both at the same time. Whatever you need, we’re here for it.”

“We could get married.” I shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t a solution in any way, and the looks I got in return confirmed it, but now that I’d said the words—

I needed to dial it back. I wasn’t ready for marriage again, even with Evie.

Aubrey screwed up her face. “Maybe he’s onto something. Cash only registry. You could pay the bills with your wedding gifts.”

Alys looked at the number on the page again. “Unless you both have more friends than we realize, and they’re in the habit of giving generous gifts, that’s not going to cut it.”

“Plus, that drags you down with me, Gage. Thanks though.” Evie looked bummed. “I’ve been going through a lot of old things. Grandpa’s storage, some of the stock that’s tucked away behind everything new. Deacon thinks he might be able to help me clear some of it out, and maybe get a decent price. It won’t clear my bill, but it should buy me another month.”

My mind skipped through the thought, from Deacon to Adam. “What about some sort of livestream fundraiser?”

“I don’t have a channel to livestream on.” Evie looked at me like I’d gone off the edge.

But Alys smiled. “Maddox and Adam… They’d totally dedicate time to you.”

The two of them had started doing podcasts a few months ago that were basically squirrel-fueled streams of consciousness, and their viewer numbers had skyrocketed.

Evie’s frown deepened. “I can’t ask—”

“You have to.” A hard edge slid into Aubrey’s voice. “You need help, and we’re your friends. We’re here to help, and they’ll want to do the same. We all stick together, right? Everyone on the street?”

“I’ll talk to Maddox,” Alys said. “Assume he’s already said yes. You’ll be on the show. You can talk about robots and they’ll love it. This can work.”

“Okay.” Evie didn’t sound convinced, but there was a hint of gratitude in her surrender.

We tossed a few more suggestions around, and set a time to regroup in a couple of days with Maddox, to make plans. Aubrey and Alys left.

Evie sank lower in her seat with a loud exhale. “I should be upset with you for ambushing me, but thank you. That needed to happen.”

“You won’t lose the hardware store. I won’t let you.”

She almost smiled. “Are you free the rest of the day? Want to watch zombie movies or something?”

“Absolutely.” I had to tell her about Sawyer, though. I’d been putting it off on purpose, but I needed to get it out. “There is one more thing.”

“No more things. I can’t handle any more things.” She rolled her head to the side to look at me. “Kidding. What’s up?”

“Talk to Sawyer, so he leaves. Just hear him out.”

Evie raised her brows and sat up straight. The humor vanished from her expression. “No.”

“I told him you would.”

“You…” She clenched her jaw. “When? No, wait. Yesterday. Are you the reason he was at the picnic?”

I could almost see the pieces slotting together in her head. “Yes,” I said.

“I told him no. That should be enough for him and for you. I’m not going to hear him out, and you have no right to tell him otherwise.”

Fuck. “If you do—”

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