She gave a little gasp. "What?"
"I'm just saying, you never know."
She dropped her hand. "How dare you!"
I almost laughed and not because her objection sounded so prissy. Ever since my life had gone to crap, I'd seen Mackenzie only a handful of times. Every single time she'd "dared" quite a bit, andnotin a nice way.
I tried for another smirk. "Sorry, I was just asking."
She was glaring now. "And what are you smiling at?"
"Me?" I said. "Nothing."
In high school, almost no one had liked Mackenzie. At the time, I hadn't fully realized why. But now I knew all too well. She was the kind of person who kissed their way upward and crapped on everyone below.
Now I couldn't help but wonder how she'd act in the future if my fortunes ever did improve – and not just temporarily. No doubt, she'd pucker up and pretend to be my friend all over again.
I almost rolled my eyes.Good luck with that.
Mackenzie was no friend of mine, and probably never was. But I'd dealt withthathurt a long time ago, which meant that I was done letting her get under my skin.
Or so I thought.
With a little huff, she said, "You know what? Forget it. Smile all you want. But when he dumps you – which youknowhe will – guess where you'll be." She jerked her chin upward. "Back at the Waffle House. Andthenwe'll see who's laughing."
Her words grated, but not for the reasons she thought. Probably, Mackenzie had never worked a day in her life.
I told her, "There's no shame in working a regular job."
She gave a snort of derision. "You're only saying that because you don't anymore."
She was wrong. I'dneverthought that, not even when Gordon's ill-gotten gains had been flowing freely into our household. My real dad had been an auto mechanic. From the little I recalled,hewas a million times the man that Gordoneverwas, menial job or not.
I crossed my arms. "You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. And besides, I'm only on a leave of absence."
"What?"
"Yeah. I'll be back at the waffle house in just a few weeks." As I said it, something in my heart twisted. Unfortunately, this had nothing to do with the job and everything to do with Flynn.
Soon, I'd be out of his life entirely, and he'd be out of mine. For some stupid reason, the thought didn't make me nearly as happy as it should've.
In fact, it didn't make me happy at all.
"Good," Mackenzie said. "I look forward to you waiting on me."
My stomach knotted at the thought. Knowing Mackenzie, she wasn't bluffing. This shouldn't have been a big deal. After all, I waited on people I knew all the time, even people from high school.
Usually, they were friendly enough. But Mackenzie? She'd come in, run me ragged, and laugh when I didn't meet her unrealistic expectations.
Still, I forced a smile. "Good. AndIlook forward to peeing in your coffee."
"Hah!" she said. "I don't drink coffee."
Damn it.
Just like Flynn.
Why dideverythingcome back to him?
