“The item has been secured,” I tell Rose. “But I’m not sure you should tell her yet. Maybe we make her sweat a little?”
Rose laughs. “He found it.”
“Fun stopper,” I say.
“Do you mind if she comes by to get it?” she asks as Paxton’s headlights turn into the driveway.
“I’ll do you one better. I’ll bring it by. I was hoping to see the cat, anyway.”
“Do it. We’re trying the name Garfield today because he doesn’t respond to Elton.”
“No, we aren’t!” Olivia calls from somewhere in the background.
I laugh. “I’ll be there shortly.”
I tuck both phones into my pocket before ducking out of the passenger seat and back into the rain as Paxton pulls up.
“Where are you going?” Pax asks, closing his car door before reaching into the back to grab a sack filled with takeout. “I got Dick’s.”
I shake my head, still unable to get used to the name of the popular hamburger joint that all native Seattleites love. They’re cheap and basic and delicious and are never without a line. “I’ll be back later. Lincoln and Rae Rae are here. I haven’t seen Caleb.”
“Class,” he says. “I’m just going to eat Dick’s, and then I’m going to go to Candace’s.”
“So many jokes. So little time.”
Paxton flashes an easy grin—one that is familiar and natural and doesn’t reflect the turmoil his family endured this fall. “Big, greasy Dick’s are the best.”
“I hope you use that line on Candace tonight.”
“I will.” He flashes another smile. “See you tomorrow, man.”
I pass him as I round my SUV to get to the driver’s door, stowing my crutches in the back. My thoughts dance around this afternoon again, of the confusion and shock on Olivia’s face, the contorted excitement and eagerness the older woman portrayed when she saw her.
Bad luck, be damned. I find a parking spot right in front of their apartment, making the heavier rain seem like a minor inconvenience.
I knock twice before the door opens, and Rose appears, her smile warm as she waves me inside. “Long time, no see,” she says as I pass her. “Should I take offense that you think you’re cursed, considering you see me a lot more now that you’ve been cursed?”
“Probably,” I tell her with a laugh.
“Olivia, change our order. Arlo’s leaving!” she yells.
Olivia appears with the cat in her hands.
“He already looks bigger,” I say.
“No, he doesn’t,” Olivia says, setting him down on a small cat bed filled with toys. She looks at Rose. “I don’t think that guy was the owner.”
“You guys got a call?” I ask.
“This was the first one. He mentioned seeing us when we were hanging the posters. Creep.” Olivia frowns.
Rose scoops up the cat, who turns and bats at a long strand of her dark brown hair, making her laugh.
Olivia’s features are stoic as she watches, making it impossible for me to understand her emotions or thoughts. She moves her gaze to me, likely feeling my stare. “Sorry to make you drive over. I would have come to you.”
I shake my head. “It’s not a big deal. One of my roommates is dating my other roommate’s sister, so there’s likely a Jerry Springer vibe happening at my place right now.”
Her eyebrows dance, and her lips part with a smile. Olivia’s lips are nearly obscene—rounded and swollen, and her top lip curves up slightly rather than down like everyone else’s. It was one of the first details I noticed about her—an often-distracting detail. “Sounds entertaining.”
“Does it make you think of home?” I ask her.
She laughs. “Are you insinuating all people from Texas are inbred?”
“Not me personally, but I’ve heard stories.”
Her laughter grows until her eyes close. “That’s okay, I think of everyone from Jersey looking and acting like the people from that MTV show.”
“Pshhhh,” I wave away her words. “No. That’s not even a little accurate.”
“Really?”
“Do you all ride horses everywhere and sleep with your cousins?”
She lifts her shoulders. “There are people who ride horses … I don’t know about the cousin bit?”
“There are people everywhere who look and act like those idiots from that show—it’s not isolated to Jersey.”
“You guys have multiple shows that make you look like that,” Rose points out. “You’re forgetting the housewives show.”
“That’s because I prefer to imagine it doesn’t exist.”
The cat leaps off Rose and perches at the edge of the couch until she lowers it to the ground, then it runs at me, attacking my shoelaces. “You’re straight up tiger, aren’t you?” I ruffle its fur, and it instantly turns its attention to attacking me.
“Careful, she has zero remorse,” Olivia warns.
“She?”
“Pretty sure, Tiger’s a girl.”
“Garfield,” Rose interjects.
Olivia turns an amused smile to Rose. “So, I forgot to tell you that Arlo used his powers to turn off the electricity at Pivotal today.”
Rose pulls her chin back, her expression filled with shock and confusion. “Don’t tell me you believe this now, too?”
“I like to help the less fortunate,” she says, her gaze turning to me, humor dancing in her eyes.
Rose shakes her head. “Mother Olivia, Patron Saint of the Accursed.”
Olivia’s laughter grows, making the cat arch it’s little back and then go sprinting out of sight. “That cat’s crazy,” she says, shaking her head.
“What’s crazier is this guy I’m supposed to hang out with tonight is trying to get me to come over now. He says he has a study group later,” Rose grumbles, tapping away on her phone.
“Now?” Olivia glances at the large wall clock that is probably supposed to look chipped and old but only reminds me of something my grandpa would have kept around because he could never part with anything. “Food isn’t going to be here for another fifteen minutes.”
Rose sighs. “This guy’s hot, and I haven’t bumped uglies in a week. Arlo, I hope you’re hungry.”
“I can’t believe you’re choosing to have sex with this guy over Indian food. And not just any Indian food—curry!”
“Sometimes, good sex takes priority over good food. If you’d start dating again, you’d realize this.” Rose winks before turning toward her room.
Olivia releases another quiet sigh, and this one drops her shoulders.
“Start dating again?” I ask.
Olivia waves a hand dismissively in the direction of Rose.
“I thought you were dating that guy from Texas?”
“Matt,” she says. “No labels.”
“Friends with benefits then?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Nothing is complicated. We try to make things complicated, but things are actually quite simple.”
She cocks her chin, defiance glimmering in her eyes. “Says the guy who believes he’s cursed.”