Page 85 of While You Were Trending

“She’s invited, and she’ll be over after she helps get Lavender to school,” Mabel says. “Heath too.”

I pause, looking at the last two biscuits and what’s left of the gravy.

I can fully smother my biscuits, or I can go light and save some for Cricket and Heath.

“More’s coming,” Ginny says. “Eat.”

Called it.

I help myself to both biscuits and the last of the gravy, then take a seat.

Flow lies down on the floor behind me.

Coffee’s passed around.

Fruit salad too.

It’s like a holiday breakfast at my parents’ house, everyone talking and eating and laughing and telling stories about the little things that went wrong last night, bragging about who had the biggest loads, ragging on each other about who has the most grape juice stains on our clothes and who smells the worst, all while Pip occasionally asks for clarification after hearing it wrong.

And Ginny flits about, getting a new batch of gravy going, pulling more biscuits out of the oven, offering us hot chocolate and orange juice in addition to the coffee, cleaning up little messes and taking dishes to the sink as we all finish up.

I rise to help, but she shoos me away. “Go sleep. The last thing we need is an ambulance coming here after you pass out and hit your head.”

“We’ve got this,” Mabel adds in her no-nonsense way that tells me she’s prepared to march me across the fields to my bedroom herself.

She’s nicer than she was at first.

Almost warm, but not quite.

Get the feeling you have to earn that.

So I head out across the fields, my dog with me, after thanking everyone for a fun night and a delicious breakfast.

I’dliketo crash on the couch and listen to Ginny’s voice all day, but I’m already down bad.

Don’t need to make it worse.

Especially with the guilt that creeps up my neck when I realize Alex texted while I was eating.

Three letters.

WTF?

Flow looks up at me and whines softly.

I rub her head. “All good, girl,” I murmur.

It’s a lie.

It’s not all good.

Because I still like Ginny Rhodes.

Even more, if that’s possible.

But my best friend hates her.

And he’d hate me if he knew how much I like her.