Jio snuggled in next to her. “Where’s Reece?” they asked in a velvety whisper.
Charlotte ran a finger around the rim of her coffee cup. “Elsewhere.”
“And Jackie?”
“Also elsewhere.”
Jio rested their head against her shoulder, hmm-ing under their breath. They still looked half-asleep despite the caffeine. And why wouldn’t they? They’d had a huge weekend. An engagement announcement, two dance parties, a long trip from D.C….
Charlotte wrapped her arm around their shoulders and gave them a side hug. “I’m so happy for you,” she said. “Seriously.”
Jio straightened up, their smile returning even as they fought back a yawn. “Thanks, Char.” The yawn escaped and Jio covered their mouth with their hand. When it passed, Jio rolled their eyes. “Who would have thought. Me, engaged.”
Charlotte took a careful sip of her coffee. She hoped she wasn’t being rude when she asked, “Are you scared?”
Jio drummed their nails on the kitchen island as they considered her question. “Of marriage? Not really.” They frowned. “I’m scared of, like, money stuff. Debt. But marriage doesn’t scare me. Matt’s always been my future.”
“You don’t worry about, uh—” She hesitated. “I mean, your parents are divorced too.”
Jio waved off her unasked question. “Yeah, but we’re not them,” they said. “I won’t let us become them.”
She marveled at their words. What a brave thing to say. She bit her lip, torn between jealousy and doubt.
Jio looped their arm around her waist. “I think Matt worries,” they admitted, lowering their voice. “He didn’t grow up with a lot of love. I still freak him out sometimes.” Jio winked at her. “You may not know this, but I’m a bit much.”
“I had no idea,” she drawled, and they laughed. Their joy was infectious, and she smiled as they added some sugar to their coffee.
Her phone trilled in her pocket, announcing an incoming text. She felt the blood drain from her face, even though she knew it was probably Jackie. Or Reece, wanting to make sure she wasn’t passed out on the softball field.
“Are you okay, hun?” Jio nudged her shoulder gently. “Something bothering you?”
Oh nothing. Only her shithead boss, her narcissist ex-boyfriend, her abusive mother, her furious best friend, and the guy she’d fallen for whom she would never, ever deserve.
Charlotte winced. “Lots of demons tonight.”
Jio hummed under their breath again, and then looked around the kitchen. “We could have another meeting,” they suggested. “This place is like the 3Ds clubhouse.”
“No, it’s okay—”
But Jio gave her a clever smile and turned to Wynn and Garrett. “Hey, do you guys have shitty parents?”
The boys gave them matching quizzical looks.
Jio gestured vaguely with their hand. “Controlling, unsupportive, that kind of thing.”
Wynn smiled at some private joke. “Unfortunately, yes.”
Jio nodded and turned to Garrett. “What about yours?”
He froze. “Uh…Sometimes?”
“Perfect.” Jio clapped their hands once. They channeled Jackie’s fearless-leader energy as they announced, “I hereby declare an emergency meeting of the Dead, Divorced, and Otherwise Disappointing Parents Unofficial Support Group.”
Wynn guffawed at the announcement but leaned forward with interest. Garrett just blinked.
Charlotte hid her face in her hand, torn between embarrassment and amusement. Leave it to Jio to pressure two strangers into doing emotional labor in her hour of need. “You do not need to be part of this,” she told them.
“Go ahead!” Wynn raised his coffee in a toast. “I’ve got nothing else to do.”
Garrett gave her a little you might as well shrug, clearly resigned to wherever this night took him.
Satisfied by their consent, Jio turned back to Charlotte. “Okay, go on, then. What’s on your mind?”
Fixed in the stares of her three companions, Charlotte tightened her grip on her mug. She could maybe imagine telling Jio the truth, but she couldn’t bare her soul to Garrett. And Wynn was a total stranger.
Then again, there had to be a reason Reece kept Garrett around. Judging by where they were, he clearly had hidden depths. And she recognized Amy’s wide-eyed faith in Wynn’s open face.
Use your words, Charlotte Thorne!
“Okay.” Charlotte put her coffee down, and then picked it back up to have something to do with her hands. “All right.”
She opened her mouth.
She thought of the bracing cold of Cobalt Pond, and Jackie’s pursed lips as she focused on her eyeliner. She remembered Reece’s teeth grazing her neck in her twin bed, and his fingers woven through hers as he guided her through the Lawn Party. She felt the warmth that spread through her chest when he gave her that just-for-Charlie smile.
But…the freshly sharpened knife of Ben’s white smile. Reece’s face falling as he realized she wasn’t who he thought she was. Jackie fighting back tears. Her vermillion self-loathing as she scrubbed bile out of her hair over the sink.
Her jaw closed with a snap.
