N9ne: The Tale of Kevin Clearwater (King, #9)(25)

I chuckle. “I’d hate to see you in an actual argument.” I take a sip of my vodka-coffee.

She shrugs. “It’s pretty much the same. Except, I don’t get all tingly after. I save most of my fighting for sex.”

Our eyes meet over the rim of our drinks, and I can’t help but laugh at my friend.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving me tomorrow. It’s going to be boring around here without you,” I say.

“No doubt. But you’ll have the Stepfords.” I cringe. The Stepfords are the wives and girlfriends that run the social circles on this side of the causeway. Their leader? None other than Lori.

Yuli peers back over to the barista and meets his eye. She blows him a kiss. His face turns purple as he sheepishly grins then looks across the counter to the next customer in line. “I sure will miss this place. Maybe, I’ll come back here before I leave for the airport in the morning and suck him off behind the counter while he’s serving customers.”

“It’s so selfish of you to leave me.”

“Speaking of which, why didn’t you tell me about Jared?”

I shrug. I’m not surprised she found out without me telling her. This town is gossip central.

“Because you don’t need more things to worry about when you’re leaving, and I’ll be fine. He left me. Not a big deal.”

She doesn’t believe me. I know she doesn’t. “Jared was always a dickhead. I’m not surprised he got some sense in his head and left you to discover all the worthier men you could be allowing the pleasure of penetrating you. Any clue where he is?”

I shake my head. “Nope. No one else seems to know either.”

“You’re better off without him,” she says. “But tell me one little thing... what really happened to your car?”

“I told you. It broke down.” I take a big gulp of my drink, and I don’t know if my throat burns from the heat of the coffee or the copious amounts of vodka I poured in it. I change the subject. “And I’m not hanging out with the Stepfords,” I say, changing the subject. “I’ll have to make new friends.”

Lying to your best friend? You seem to be reaching a new low with every word that leaves your mouth.

Yuli smiles. “As long as these new friends treat you well and are easily disposable when I come back.”

“Deal,” I agree, and we clink our cups together.

“Besides, you’re not really supposed to like your friends anyway,” she retorts.

“That’s not true. I like you,” I argue.

She shrugs. “Everyone makes mistakes.”

Her face turns serious. She reaches across the table and sets her hand on mine. “I won’t be gone forever. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I know,” I say, trying not to cry for the thousandth time today. “I’ll be fine.”

“And one more thing, you never told me why I had to come pick you up on the other side of the Causeway last week. I know your car broke down, but why were you there in the first place?”

I take another sip to buy me time and come up with an answer.

You mean more lies.

“I was at a pawn shop, looking for my mother’s raven pendant. They had something similar on their online store, so I wanted to go in person and check it out. It wasn’t even close. Then, my car broke down, and I had it towed to the mechanic where it will probably be for the next thousand years. Thank god for Uber.”

Liar, you can’t afford Uber either. Your credit cards have all been shut off.

“You’ll find your necklace one day, and maybe, when you do, you’ll find him, too,” Yuli adds with a wink.

Yuli is the only person I ever told about that night. Even Jared never knew I survived a fall from the causeway or met someone that same night. Or that I’ve spent more time thinking about the boy from the bridge during my time with Jared than I did about him.

“Before I forget, can you check my mail for me while I’m gone?” Yuli asks.

“At your apartment?” Hope sparks within me at the idea that Yuli decided not to give up her lease after all. That way when I’m tossed out on my ass I’ll have a place to crash.

She waves her hand dismissively. “No, the movers came this morning and took everything to storage, including the bed in the guest bedroom so unfortunately, as much as I loved having you, I only have my mattress on the floor so camp Lenny-Yuli has officially come to an end. I rented a PO box for my mail.”

Damn. It was a longshot but still, damn.

Yuli tosses a small set of keys onto the table. She wags her eyebrows. “It’s box 6969.”

“Of course, it is.” I take the keys and shove them into my purse. “I’ll check it every week.”

“Are you sure that you’re going to be okay, Len?” Her eyes are filled with nothing but love and concern, making me uneasy about lying to the one person who has always been there for me since my parents died.

“It’s a breakup, not a breakdown. I’ll be fine. I swear it. I have a lead on a new job and another interview tomorrow,” I lie. “I’ll be great. I swear.”

She claps her hands together, rubbing her palms up and down. “What do you say we hit the town tonight? One last girls’ night for an entire year.”