Page 79 of Lease to Love

I made a big show of sipping my lemonade.

Roman smirked and continued. “Let me guess. Confused your syllabus with your schedule? Kept forgetting which classroom was yours?”

He was doing his usual teasing, making fun of my spotty memory and constant executive dysfunction.

But it stung more than it usually did.

He snapped his fingers dramatically. “I got it. You kept getting lost on your way to class, starting conversations with butterflies and shit on campus.”

“It wasn’t like that!” I snapped, sharper than usual.

Roman stopped.

He realized I wasn't joking and actually shut up.

For once, he gave me a minute.

I took it.

“I...” I started, busying my hands by sliding the salt shaker from side to side. “I lost someone.”

The salt shaker moved beneath my fingers.

“Someone really important to me. Right before school started. I tried to go anyway. Told myself it was what they would've wanted me to do, but...” I shook my head.

The salt shaker stopped moving.

“I couldn't do it. I was—I was in a bad place. A really bad place. And it took me a long time to get out of it.”

I wondered if I ever really had.

“But I got help. My mom and Maya and pretty much the whole neighborhood helped. They kept me company on days when I couldn't even get out of bed, made sure I got out of the house on days when I could. Put money on my Smart Trip card so I could get to therapy.”

Roman was silent. Just listening.

“Once I was better...” My smile was only a little forced. “They came together for me again. Helped me start House of Autumn out of me and my mom's old apartment. Raised money, brought me my first customers, helped me make contacts and stuff.”

I finally met his eyes.

“And the rest is history.”

I'd never be able to repay the people of Langston Park for the way they took care of me when I was at my lowest. The way they loved me until I found my smile again.

That's why I worked so hard to give them those smiles in return. To be the Sunny Girl they all fought so hard to get back.

Even on the days when I didn't feel it.

Roman was still watching me.

The look on his face was one I'd only seen in flashes, after a particularly clever insult or when I'd made a point even he couldn't argue with.

Respect.

Plain and simple.

But this was different.

There was something quieter in it. Something deeper.