Playing (Inked Hearts 2)

"Thanks."

"Is it high-maintenance?"

"It looks messy if I don't trim it every six weeks, but otherwise, it's as easy as it gets."

She nods. "It looks great on you."

"Thanks."

Business guy watches from his seat at a side table. He nods to himself oh, I get it. She doesn't like me because she's into girls.

Okay. I'm jumping to conclusions.

I do have a problem.

She refills my cold brew. I bring it to the bar, pour in a little two percent and a lot of simple syrup. Mmm. Perfection.

I return to my seat, tackle another chapter, write up another set of notes.

One to go.

Then a bunch of reading from the other textbook in my backpack. I thought I'd be jumping into research right away, but the first year of this program is all foundation.

It's good. Important stuff to know.

But I want to dive into a massive research project now.

I suck coffee through my straw. Open up my email. There's a bunch of stuff about my internship offers. I've been ignoring it for too long.

New York isn't as appealing as it was a month ago.

It's so far away. That was the draw, when I applied. But now that there's someone I want to see in LA…

No. That's silly. Walker and I are casual. We won't be anything come July. I need to take whichever of these is the best opportunity.

Which means I need to figure out which of these is the best opportunity.

Eventually.

I lean back and take another sip. Make a mental note to decide by the end of the month. Turn back to my computer.

My fingers move of their own accord.

Straight to Lily's Instagram. I created a new account just to stalk my sister. It's awful, I know. But she blocked me on every platform. And I have to know she's okay. Asking my parents always leads to offers to help us make up.

I want that.

But not until she's ready.

If she's ever ready.

There's a picture from this morning. She's standing with all her equally fit girlfriends, sipping a green smoothie in her spin gear.

Her last week is all cute business casual outfits and fierce eye shadow. She always looks good. She taught me how to do my makeup. And hair. And how to style my outfits. And everything, really.

Mom was involved too, but her style was—still is—trapped in the 80s.

Lily is trendy. Pretty. Fun.