“It’s not like this is good-bye,” Emerson declared after a long moment of silence.
“Yeah, I know. We’ll get together every week,” I said, my voice a little strangled even to my ears. “We’ll always have Teen Wolf night.”
“That’s right,” Pepper agreed, pointing at both of us in mock threat. “We watch it together. Reruns, fine, but new episodes are off-limits.”
But it won’t be the same.
The three of us would never share our lives together in the same way again. Pepper would be living full-time with Reece. Even in the fall when Emerson and I moved back into the dorm together with Suzanne (she had agreed to move in with us), it would never be like before. Em would hardly ever be there. She’d be with Shaw. And it would only be a matter of time before Suzanne had a boyfriend, too.
We were moving on. Growing up. It was right. Good. And I was happy for all of us. So why did this suck so much?
Pepper hugged each of us, her arms squeezing tight. “You sure you don’t need help moving your stuff to Mulvaney’s?”
“No, I got it. Reece already helped me get everything in the car.” There was nothing left for me next door. Just an empty room like this one. “I can take it from here. I’ll head over this afternoon.”
She nodded and we all hugged again like it was the last time we would ever see one another. “At least shoot me a text when you’re on your way over and I’ll meet you at Mulvaney’s to officially introduce you to the staff.”
“You don’t have to do that. You’ll be busy settling into your new—”
“No, I want to. Reece has to go into work later at the new location anyway, so I’m happy to do it.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
Pepper left then and Em and I turned to face each other. She bumped her knuckles with mine with exaggerated slowness. “So proud of you, friend.”
I blinked. “Me? Why?”
“I know your parents were pressuring you to go home for the summer, and I know you didn’t want to. Good for you standing up for yourself.”
“Working with Dr. Chase is a great opportunity.”
She shrugged. “Spin it however you like. You’re here and free for the summer.” She grinned then. “Now don’t get into too much trouble at Mulvaney’s.” Her pretty grin then turned into a giggle. As if the idea of my getting into trouble was so outrageous she had to laugh.
I laughed as if that was ridiculous. “Oh, you know me. Troublemaker extraordinaire.”
I had a flash of myself at the kink club with Annie. I had been on the verge of getting into trouble that night. And that had been the goal. To shake off my self-imposed constraints and not be so boring for once. To be wild. If Em knew that, she might not laugh at the suggestion. She might actually be worried I would do something reckless and get into trouble living above Mulvaney’s.
She considered me for a moment, her lovely blue eyes sharp with speculation. “On second thought, a little bit of trouble might be good for you.” She held up her thumb and index finger, pinching a small amount of air. “Just a little bit. Nothing to land you in jail or anything.”
I seriously laughed at that. I’d never so much as gotten a speeding ticket. “Oh, really? Is jail when you’ve gone too far then? Is that when things have officially gotten out of hand?”
“Yeah. Jail is a no-no. But you’ve been the good girl long enough. Maybe you need a wild summer.”