“I don’t understand who I’m speaking to right now. Aren’t you the one who is anti-relationship because you’re all about living in the moment?”
“Yes, but that’s me. And you’re not me.” She held up a neon yellow sweatshirt. “How about this one? There’s no way he’ll miss seeing you.”
I scrunched up my nose. “Absolutely not. Why can’t I just wear black?”
“Because you’re going to a football game, not a wake.” After a few more minutes of combing through the rack, she practically shouted, “Aha! This one is perfect.”
The fitted hoodie was a deep maroon, almost the exact color of the team’s uniforms, and the sleeves and hood were a light gray. “Much better.”
Petra huffed. “I guess I can accept better.” The bell above the door sounded, and several women entered the store. “That’s our cue to get to work in the back.”
We passed Nana on the way, and she said, “I laid out a few choices for you. Try them on.”
I wanted to insist that my simple charcoal shirt was fine, but her expression left no room argument. “Okay, thanks.” Once Petra and I were on the other side of the door that led to the storage area, I asked, “Is she always so bossy?”
“Always.”
She pushed a cart holding a long, skinny printer-looking machine up to the large computer desk in the corner. “What is that thing?”
“It’s a die cutting machine.”
“Am I supposed to know what that means?”
“Just watch and learn.” She opened an app on the computer before turning to me. “Okay, what do you want on the shirt?”
“I was just thinking his number?”
Petra blinked at me. “Just. His. Number.”
“Yes,” I answered almost timidly. “Unless you have a better idea?”
“Of course, I do.”
She turned back to the computer, and since I had no idea how to help, I found the clothes Nana had laid out for me. The first hanger held a lightweight chambray button-down shirt over a plum-colored tank.
I pulled both on, then checked out my reflection in a full-length mirror affixed to the wall. “I guess I know why Nana has her own clothing shop. She’s pretty good at this.”
Petra glanced over her shoulder and gave me an approving nod. “That’s perfect for you. Still simple but not nearly as dingy as what you were wearing.”
I opened my mouth to argue that my charcoal shirt wasn’t dingy but shut it before uttering a word. Maybe it was a bit boring.
“How long have you lived with Nana?” I asked as I tried on the woman’s next suggestion.
“On and off for my whole life, but my egg donor ran off for good when I was thirteen.”
“What about your father?”
“Some rich, married guy. No idea who. Mom would never say.”
Well, that explained her dislike of rich people.
“We have that much in common,” I said as I stared at myself in the mirror. In the royal blue top with a subtle geometric pattern, I didn’t look as pale as usual. Maybe I really should start paying more attention to my clothing choices. “My mother never bothered to share my father’s identity, either.”
Petra paused in her work to look at me. “How about that? We’re both heathen bastards who evolved into virtual saints.”
I sputtered out a laugh. “Saints, right.”
She returned her attention to the computer. “You lived with your aunt in Kansas?”
Though I’d explained my ties to the Sharpe family in the most basic terms, I hadn’t gone into detail about the rest of my past. I’d brought up hers, so I guess it was time to own up to some of mine.
“Yeah.”
“Were you two close?”
“No.” I was glad Petra wasn’t looking my direction, so she couldn’t see whatever expression I was currently wearing. “She barely tolerated me.”
“Fuck. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” And it really was. I’d made the conscious decision not to be bitter about those years anymore, and I was sticking to it. “I’m moving on.”
“With Leo Sharpe,” she teased.
“That’s not what I meant by moving on.”
“Riiight.” She dropped her lighthearted tone to ask, “So, when you were in Kansas, you had no one?”
“I had Tobias.”
“Who is Tobias, and why haven’t I heard about him until now?”
I sighed and sat on a couch that had to be older than I was. “He’s my best friend. Well, he was my best friend. Things have been strained between us since I moved.”
Although, we had started texting and talking more often in the last couple of weeks. I avoided the subject of the Sharpe brothers, and he didn’t ask. It was simpler that way.
“What, don’t tell me he declared his undying love the day before you left, and you broke his poor heart?”
I stared at the back of her head, slack-jawed. “Are you sure I haven’t already told you about him?”
She twisted her head to glance back at me. “That’s not what really happened, is it?”
I nodded. “Only, it was the day I left. In front of the fucking airport.”
“Oh, god. Why are boys so dumb?”
“I wish I knew.” Except, Tobias hadn’t been dumb before that day. He’d been the best. “You would like him, though,” I said, feeling the sudden need to stick up for him. “Everyone likes him.”
“But you don’t love him?”
“Not that way.” Right now, I wished I did. My life would be so much simpler if I’d stayed in Wichita with him and been his. Then, I wouldn’t be all torn up inside about the damn Sharpe brothers.
“Sucks to be him.”
It really didn’t. He was better off, and no one would ever convince me otherwise.
“How about you and Nana?” I asked, still wanting to know about their relationship. “Do you two get along well?”
“It’s complicated. She didn’t know how to draw that line between fun grandmother and parental figure when I was younger. So, of course, I rebelled and put her through hell, and she never lets me forget it.”
“It sounds like she loves you.” A slight pang shot through me as I wondered what it would be like to have a loving grandmother. It was one of those things that most people took for granted, I was sure.
“Oh, she does. And though I refuse to say it to her smug face, I’m really grateful for her. She’s the only reason I didn’t spend my formative years in and out of foster care.”
Petra stood suddenly as the machine began making whirring noises. I started toward her, but she put her arms out to stop me. “Finish trying on clothes. It’ll be more fun if you see the design once it’s on the shirt.”
I looked at her, finding her overly bright smile suspicious. “If you say so.”
“Oh, I do.”
Chapter Nine
Thea
For the record, the next time I suspected Petra of mischief, I was going with my gut.
Because I was now walking into the football stadium wearing a maroon hoodie with a massive “07” on the front and the words, “like the game, love the player” on the back. With Leo’s number again. And a heart.