Page 9 of Crown of Death
And I walkaway.
Maybe I’m being overly dramatic. Maybe I’m over-reacting.
But that hurt. Him trying to tell me what to do. Eli assuming I couldn’t take care ofmyself.
I climb the stairs, aiming for mydoor.
I halt in front of it, taking in the bright pink piece of paper taped to thedoor.
EVICTIONNOTICE.
And I’m just done with thisday.
* * *
“I’m telling you,”Amelia says as she dips her French fry in my Butterfinger shake, “It’s all that sexual tension. You two just need to bang it out and then everything can go back tonormal.”
“You have no idea how disgusting that suggestion really is,” I cringe. I scoop a huge spoonful of the shake and stick it in my mouth. “I mean, Eli is family. You might have had a thing for him, but the suggestion of me andhim...”
Internally, I actuallygag.
Not that Eli isn’t a good-looking man with a killer body. But still…family.
I cock an eyebrow and nod as I swallow the giant bitedown.
“Well at some point there’s got to be a man who comes along and gets you all hot and bothered,” Amelia says as she shakes her head and dips another fry. “This has been torture, now that I have Tanner, and you’re just always the third wheel. Find a man,Lo!”
“Hey, you asshole!” I bite back, wielding my spoon in her direction. “I may not just walk up to some kid in class and tell him I think he’s hot,but-”
“But perhaps you should!” she says, teasing me. “Then you could finally get rid of some of that pent-up bitterness. Just be bold! Tanner and me were making out two hours later, and now look at us. A year later and we’re talkingabout-”
She suddenly cuts off, like she’s said more than she meantto.
“What?” I prod. She blushes hard, and bites her lower lip. “Oh, come on. You can’t just lead into that and not finish thesentence.”
She gives me a little wary smile, looking up at me from under her eyelashes. “We’re talking about…if we might get marriedsomeday.”
“What?” I gape. I actually fling my spoon in a big arc, sending a splatter of ice cream onto the window beside me. “Married? Slow down on me, Amelia. You two just moved in together. Is this forreal?”
She blushes harder and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “Yeah,” she says. “I mean, we’re all in this. I don’t know a timeframe, but I feel like this is the rightmove.”
I study her. My best friend ever since I started at Greendale Community College. My five foot-nine, blonde babe best friend with the pouty lips and the green eyes of asiren.
Talking about gettingmarried.
“Wow,” I breathe. “Amelia, that’s amazing. I’m…I’m really happy foryou.”
“Really?” she asks, sounding wary. The look in her eyes tells me how much she’s been dreading telling me. “You really meanit?”
I laugh, reaching forward and grabbing her hands. “Just because I have the worst luck in the world and can’t seem to ever catch a break in the happiness department doesn’t mean you’re doomed, too. You and Tanner are great together. He worships the ground you walk on. Trust me, he recognizes that you’re out of hisleague.”
She laughs at that, smilingbrightly.
“And even though you’ve already abandoned me in that apartment,” I say, gazing at her through my laugh. “I’m happy for you. You have my fullsupport.”
I’ll never tell her that because she moved out, because of my debt to Shylock, I can no longer afford the rent on my own. That I’m getting kicked out. That the eviction notice on my door said I had to be out in twoweeks.
She doesn’t need that guilt on hermind.