Well, that and one hundred and twenty dollars, because long after she was gone, Gran is still making sure I’m winning.

Now it’s my turn to take care of myself.

CHAPTER 26

“I don’t understand why you’re still here.” Elsie is digging through my desk drawer, tossing out piece of candy after piece of candy until she finds the watermelon Blow Pop she was searching for.

“Where else would I be?” I don’t want anything sweet, but since she dumped so much on my desk, I feel like it’s my duty to help her clean up by nabbing a piece. I peel open the Laffy Taffy, toss the wrapper, and pop the bite-sized candy in my mouth.

“Ummm . . .” She aims her glare at me, but it hits differently with her cheek puffed out from the sucker. She pulls it out of her mouth with a loud pop and points it much too close to my face. “I don’t know. Literally anywhere else. Your grandma basically laid out every option possible so you could fund your worldly travels. But if you don’t want to start there, you could always drive your ass to a little bungalow in Wash Park to smooth things over with Jasper.”

I check the time on my phone.

It’s been seven minutes since she last brought up Jasper . . . which is about two minutes longer than the time she brought him up before this.

I’ve been trying to be gentle with her the last couple of weeks because she was one thousand percent as invested in my relationship as I was. When I went over to her house the other night, Brandon told me she ate an entire pint of ice cream after I told her things were over between me and Jasper.

But it’s getting ridiculous.

“Elsie, I love you, but you gotta let it go.”

“I’ll never let it go.” She flops into the chair across from the desk and accidentally bumps into the double stroller currently housing a sleeping Milo and Finn. We both freeze, not so much as breathing as Milo readjusts, and only exhaling when he settles back into his sleep. “I’ll never let it go,” she repeats. “This was a misunderstanding and there’s no way Jasper won’t get over whatever it is you think he’s holding on to.”

The problem is, I know she’s not wrong.