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I’m still shaking my head when I reenter the café and take the seat across from Oakley. She’s watching me with the end of a pencil lodged between her lips.
“I was about two seconds from coming out there,” she says with fervor.
My eyebrow lifts on my forehead. “Why?”
“I saw you talking to that douchebag, Connor.”
I laugh.
Oakley knows everything that went down with Connor, and she was less than impressed with the football stud. She was waiting to interrogate me after I came home from Cheerz that last night I saw Connor. As soon as the bathroom door opened, she was standing there, demanding answers, even though Chase was sleeping in her room at the time. I’m guessing her brother had called her when I purposely failed to answer his texts, but she never confirmed it.
Both Burnham siblings inherited the protective gene. And I love them for it even though I act like they are overbearing and annoying at times. Really, Oakley brings a million great things to the table of our friendship. Among them—and the one I just might cherish the most—is the instant family she and Ollie have always provided for me. They brought me into their fold and embraced me when I needed it the most. When I looked for an escape from my unconventional upbringing, they were always there, providing a safe space. I loved the normalcy of their household. I even loved the rules I was forced to obey when I stayed there. Anyone who tells you that kids don’t want structure is wrong. Kids want rules and order. They respect it. And they long for it when they don’t have it. I know from personal experience.
I never needed a friend.
I needed a parent.
And as much as I love my mom, she was never really a mother.
“I can handle Connor,” I say confidently.
“I know you can,” she says, that fire still burning in her turquoise eyes. “But I always have your back.”
I can tell she’d like to corner my former flame and give him a piece of her mind. And God help Connor if Oakley ever gets the chance. My bestie would go to war for me the same way I would for her. And she’s scrappy even though she’s small.
Oakley leaves the table to replenish our coffees. I settle back into my chair and attempt to refocus on the material in front of me. I don’t say a word about my mom and her plans. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet.
Oakley and I don’t have secrets, but I find myself holding this one close to the vest for reasons I don’t even understand. I’m not ready to talk about it, not even with my best friend.
CHAPTER NINE
MADISON
“Are you sure you have to leave tonight?” I whine to Oakley.
She nods as we glance around the parking lot. Half the cars are already gone. Oakley’s will be the next to disappear.
“The O’Briens need me back to babysit on Friday. There’s some fundraiser or something they plan to attend. And I want a day to get settled in at home.”
I frown. “Why do you have to be so responsible?”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” my friend responds.
“In this case, it is.”
We both smile right before my arms go around her neck and her arms wind around my torso.
“I already miss you.”
“Me too.” Her soft voice is muffled against my shirt.
A pair of headlights sweeps across our bodies. I pull back to see Chase’s big black truck pulling up beside us. His window rolls down, and he leans out of the cab.
His head is shaking before he even speaks. “You two act like you aren’t going to spend the entire summer in the same city.”
Oakley’s eyes narrow. “It isn’t the same as living together.”
“With as much time as you hang out, it won’t be much different,” he insists.
