Page 206 of Where We Stay

“Absolutely not, babe, but thanks for the offer.” G looks toward Blair and laughs. “Have fun with that.”

“Georgie, I hate you,” Blair deadpans. “I hope you know that.”

“Did she tell you she tried to order fries after the kitchen closed?” G asks me, raising one brow.

“Georgie,” Blair warns.

“Or that she told me Dean has—”

“I swear to God, G.”

I lean back in my chair, grinning. “No, no. Let her finish.”

Blair slowly turns her head toward me. “Choose your next words very carefully, Ashford.”

I look away. “Noted.”

G snorts into her coffee while Courtney shakes her head, still laughing.

“What are we having today, Pen?” Courtney asks, tapping her pen against the order pad. “The usual?”

Aspen nods enthusiastically. “Hot chocolate with extra marshmallows.”

“Of course.”

“And whipped cream.”

Courtney lifts an eyebrow. “That’s new.”

Aspen points across the table at Blair. “She said hangovers need sugar.”

Blair drops her head onto the table. “I’m being bullied by a six-year-old.”

“You’re a bad influence,” Courtney tells her, but she’s laughing.

“Apparently.” Blair lifts her head just enough to look at Courtney over the top of her sunglasses. “Can I please get the same as Pen, plus some kind of pastry? Surprise me.”

“You’re trusting me with a lot of responsibility,” Courtney says, jotting it down.

“I’m too fragile to make decisions.”

As Courtney heads back toward the counter with our order, something in me eases.

It isn’t perfect between all of us. It probably never will be. There’s too much history for that.

But it’s easier.

And I’ll take easier.

* * *

The house is finally quiet.

Pen’s been asleep for almost an hour, Blair’s recovered enough to stop threatening violence every time I mention tequila, and there’s some movie playing on the TV neither of us has paid attention to for the last twenty minutes.

Blair’s stretched across the couch with her legs over my lap.

My hand rests on her thigh.