“Oh, that’s mature.”

“Yeah? You want mature? I’ll give you a few more names. Imagine me giving up true love because I’m scared. Oooh. How scary. Love is terrriffyyinnng.” She made fun of him for the next few minutes, during which Xavier wondered how his overly dramatic sister had learned to be so smart.

And how he’d become so vacuous.

And double points for me for using another word of the day.

CHAPTER 38

Tuesday evening, Justine stared at her phone in shock and asked her aunt, “What’s that?”

It had been four days since her super sweet breakup from Xavier. He’d texted her once, just to say he missed her. But other than that, nothing.

She should have felt worse. But she’d gone from quiet acceptance to grief to anger to a kind of numbness, broken only by her deep dive into contract work and Katie’s inane phone calls, doing her best to cheer Justine up. And even then, Katie still liked Xavier, feeling sorry for him rather than angry.

“He’s messed up, J.” Katie had said. “Just give it time. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He’s a goner. He’s just acting stupid on account of having a penis.” Such wise words from her best friend.

Her aunt’s voice on the phone sharpened. “I said I’m coming back in a month. Kai’s coming too. But don’t worry. You can stay on the couch. It’ll be like a big old sleepover!” Aunt Rosie chatted a bit more about Italian men and fine wines. Or fine men and Italian wines. Justine wasn’t sure because her aunt rambled without taking a breath for quite a while.

“Are you still there?” her aunt asked. “It’s should only be five-thirty. I think. It’s after eight here.”

“In the morning? Why are you awake?”

“I haven’t gotten to sleep yet.” Aunt Rosie laughed and said something to someone in the background.

Justine frowned. “Um, what was that?”

“I said, your mother called to tell me how much she likes your new boyfriend.”

Justine groaned.

“I knew you and Xavier would be perfect for each other.”

“Too bad, because Xavier didn’t get the memo.”

“Oh? Dish, girlie. Tell Aunt Rosie all about it.”

So Justine did, praying Aunt Truth would have some sage advice for her.

“Well.”

“Well what?” Justine asked. “Is it over between us? Are we on a break? What do his problems mean?”

“I doubt either one of you knows. Why the hell haven’t you talked since Friday? It’s almost been a week.”

Five days, three hours, and twenty-four minutes, to be exact. “I don’t know. I wanted to give him space. I’m still not sure where we are. I mean, I know where I am. Soon to be homeless with a few contract jobs that might pay for groceries for the month. Oh, and my cell phone bill.”

“There you go. Great job, honey.” Her aunt tittered. “I’m sorry for not joining your pity party of one.”