I can give her a bath. She doesn’t even argue as we make our way to the bathroom, her favorite pajamas in her hand, and waits for the bathtub to fill.
“Bubbles?”
She gives me a look that says, Duh.
Once she’s in, I give her time to play around in the suds while taking a towel and putting it on the sink beside me. When my phone rings, I glance down to see Jenna’s name across the screen.
“You actually answered,” she greets before I can even say hello. “I swear trying to get ahold of you is impossible lately. What if I was dying and you were my last call?”
My face screws. “Why would you call me and not 911 if you were dying? That makes no logical sense.”
“Maybe because I love you, you bitch.” I snicker at her attitude. “Anyway, I was just calling to see if the party this weekend was still on. Our girl isn’t sick anymore, is she? She seemed fine earlier, but that girl has an impressive poker face.”
I watch Ainsley. “Nope, she’s doing fine. A few days of medicine, orange juice, and rest was all she needed. The party is still on.”
Ains looks up at me, a smile twitching on the corners of her lips. I wink at her and pick up the washcloth next to me, wetting it with soap before beginning to wash her back as she plays.
“I got her the perfect gift,” Jenna exclaims, way too excited. That means she spent a lot of money—more than I did.
“Jen—”
“Don’t you dare ruin this,” she cuts me off, making me roll my eyes. “I spent way too much time putting this doll house together for you to tell me not to bother. There was a lot of cursing and my cat almost choked on one of the pieces. It was a serious situation.”
I try not to snort over that. Poor Oscar, the black cat she took in as a stray, can’t win. Then again, I wouldn’t want to live with Jenna either. I love her, but she’s a handful.
“I’ll bring it by Friday.”
“The party isn’t until Saturday.”
“But it’s at the nursing home,” she reminds me as if I’ve forgotten. “I don’t want to lug the thing there then all the way to your house. It’s huge.”
My eyes narrow. “How huge?”
“You can’t measure love, Piper.”
I wash Ainsley’s arms and stomach. “I don’t have a lot of room here is all. At this rate I’ll need to tell Easton to move out or sleep on the couch so I can store all her toys in it.”
I should have known the amused chuckle from her was leading to no good. “What’s it matter? It sounds like he spends a lot of time in your room anyway.”
Heat blossoms over my cheeks and travels down the back of my neck. “Cut it out. It isn’t like he stays there.” We haven’t had sex in weeks. Neither one of us has initiated anything. He doesn’t even come to my room. “I think that’s over anyway. It was just a little fling to pass time.”
“A fling?”
“Mhmm.” I pass the washcloth to Ainsley and tell her to finish cleaning herself. I set the phone down and put her on speaker so I can wash Ainsley’s hair. “Look, it’s fine. Easton and I are just roommates who have an agreement. It was never a forever thing. He’s got plenty of girls hanging around him at the shop anyway.”
“That doesn’t upset you?”
“It’s not like he brings them home.”
“But is he…?” She lets the question fade.
“What? No!” Easton isn’t the kind of guy to screw multiple women at once. Then again, we never talked about it. I’m not seeing anybody else on the side and just assume he isn’t either.
“All I’m saying,” she says in a muffled tone, with undoubtedly a spoonful of hazelnut butter in her mouth, “is that it’s okay to hook up with someone else. I’ve seen guys walking around town, P. Some of those freshmen come from good genes. If you and your hot ass roomie aren’t having—”
“You’re on speaker phone,” I cut her off.
“—meetings about how to properly make the bed, then it’s okay to find other methods,” she saves, making me chortle. “Some people like to tuck the comforter in, others don’t bother making it at all.”
I rinse Ainsley’s hair out. “Your analogy is confusing me, but I know where you’re going with it. Listen, if he wants to … try other methods of bed making, I’m not going to