Page 4 of Anyone But Me


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“AmIyour type?” Jax asked incredulously. “Because I’d be happy to go tell your man that you’ve decided to switch teams. Wearethe hotter, much more fun team.” Jax looked between me and my moms. “Can we all confirm?”

My mom shrugged. “I mean, she’snotwrong.”

“Unfortunately for all of the queer women in the world, I am devastatingly straight.” Olivia pointed a finger at Jax. “You should still think I’m hot though.”

Jax chuckled and shook her head at my sister, before putting an arm around her and pulling her close. “I believe you said something about shots.”

“Of course.” Olivia put one arm around Jax and lifted her other arm to point across the yard. “Let’s go, family unit. We’re getting shitfaced.”

Olivia and Jax walked away, but instead of following them, I looked back at my moms. My mama was shaking her head, but there was a smile on her face. “I still don’t understand how I somehow birthed my nana. I swear Olivia gets more like her every day.”

“I guess that’s what we get for naming her after Nana, huh?” My mom put an arm around my mama, but focused her attention on me. “So, you’re moving to New York and living with Jax, huh?”

I shrugged as I stared at the girl who I would be spending a lot more time with soon. “I guess so.”

“And you’re sure you’re okay with that, right?” my mama asked. “You’re not just doing it because your sister suggested it?”

That wasexactlywhy I was doing it, but at the same time, it made sense. Even with my salary raise, it would be hard to afford a place of my own in New York City. At least with Jax as a roommate, I knew there was no chance I was living with an ax murderer, or even worse—a republican.

I watched Jax throw her head back as she took a shot with my sister. Her boisterous laugh could be heard across the yard, and most likely, throughout the neighborhood. As if she could sense me watching her, she turned toward me and winked when our eyes met. I looked away before she could see the blush spreading across my cheeks, because how pathetic was it that a wink from a girl who was merely an acquaintance caused me to have that sort of reaction?

“I’m sure,” I said once I remembered my mama’s question. “What’s the worst that could happen, right?”

…Right?

Chapter 2

The month following my job offer flew by in a swirl of absolute craziness. My initial plan had been to work at my current job up until the weekend before I started with VisuSphere, but my moms convinced me I should get acclimated with life in New York before jumping into work. Before I had the chance to start calculating the hit that would put on my bank account, my moms offered to pay my first two months of rent and gave me one-thousand dollars as a “congratulations” gift. Even though I tried to fight them on it, they were adamant that they wanted to do it for me.

I reluctantly gave work a three-week notice and spent the following week after that packing up my current apartment so I could move to my next one. Olivia agreed to stay in New York for that month, so my parents could help her move out while they helped me move in.

When we arrived at the apartment I would be living in for at least the next six months until their current lease ran out, I felt like a visitor. It didn’t help that Olivia hadn’t even started to pack, so her section of the two-bedroom apartment was still completely set up for her. As we spent the day helping her pack, I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t just staying with her for the weekend. This was my new home.

When we finally got all of Olivia’s things loaded into her car and my mom’s, I took a good look around the apartment. Even with two bedrooms, the apartment was smaller than the one I lived in by myself in Philadelphia. The door to the apartment opened directly into the kitchen and family room. The kitchen had just enough space to fit two people between the bar, which was the only spot to eat, and the older appliances.The family room consisted of an old black leather couch that had been in the family room of my parents’ house for as long as I can remember up until we all went to college and they bought themselves cream-colored furniture tolighten up the spacethat they claimedseemed dark and dreary without us, an Ikea coffee table, and a tattered recliner that I assumed must have come from Jax. The newest part of the apartment was a seventy-inch flat screen TV that Olivia and Jax had purchased on Black Friday the year prior. To the left were three doors—the two bedrooms with a shared bathroom in the middle that could also be accessed from both rooms. Being forced to remember to lockthree doorsanytime I went to the bathroom when visiting Olivia had always caused me an irrational amount of anxiety, but I was sure I’d adjust to it eventually. Each room was big enough to fit a queen size bed, a dresser, and nothing else.

Honestly, it reminded me of the apartments I lived in when I was in college. I didn’t hate it by any means. At this point in my life, I just felt like I should be moving forward instead of backward. Going from a place of my own filled with furniture I had purchased and a space I had decorated to a place I was sharing with someone else that was a hodgepodge of hand-me-downs definitely felt like a step backward.

I shook these thoughts from my head. I should be thankful. I was living in a new city and about to start my dream job. Maybe this was my chance to have a fresh start. If I was being honest with myself, my life had been pretty static since I graduated from college. Back then, I thought I had everything figured out. I knew what kind of job I wanted, where I wanted to live, and who was going to be by my side through it all. When my girlfriend, Marcie, who I had been dating since our sophomore year of high school, dumped me a few weeks after our college graduation, I completely lost my way. Sure, I still had a plan. Hell, I had dozens of plans. I literally planned out everything,even down to planning out all of my outfits for the week every Sunday. But I felt so lost. I was working my ass off but honestly had no idea what I was working toward.

I sighed and walked over to the window, staring at the alley filled with garbage that our thirteenth-floor apartment overlooked. It might not be the prettiest view in the world, but it was new and fresh, and I was determined to make the most of it.

An arm wrapped around my shoulder, and I looked over to see Olivia standing beside me. “You look like you’re a million miles away,” she said softly. “What’s going on inside of that head of yours?”

“Just thinking about what a big change this is.”

“A good change or a bad change?”

“A good one,” I said, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt.

“Even good changes are scary though.” Olivia’s voice sounded more contemplative than usual, and when I looked over at her, I found her chewing on her bottom lip the same way I usually did when I was really nervous about something. It was a much more unusual look for my cool, confident sister.

“Are you scared?” I asked, watching her face just in case she tried to lie to me.

“Scared?” Olivia chuckled. “I’m literally shitting bricks. I’m moving in with my boyfriend. We’re talking about the future. I realize most people our age are ahead of me with all of this. I mean, look at Ronan. He has a fucking kid. But it’s all new to me, and I kind of feel out of my element.”

“I completely get that,” I said, laughing along with her.

“You know how I know we’ll both be okay, though?”