“You look very deep in thought,” Pearl said. She’d set her paperback down along with her reading glasses. She was watching me from her bed.

“Nah,” I said. “Just tired, I guess.”

“Liar.”

I grinned. “Okay. I was thinking, yeah.”

“About?”

“Is this our sleepover pillow talk?” I teased. Honestly, I was hoping to joke my way out of having to actually talk about what was on my mind. It still felt raw, even six months after the fact.

“It is. Now tell me, what has you so bothered? Did you know you get this crease between your eyebrows when you’re bothered?” She pointed. “Right there.”

I raised a finger and felt my skin, smirking. “Observant, aren’t we?”

“Yes. Now spill the beans.”

“I was just thinking about how people let us down, I guess.”

“People? Like Annabelle?”

Perceptive little minx. “Yeah. Like her.”

“When I first met you, I remember thinking you seemed to be taking it all surprisingly well, considering the circumstances.”

“We all have our own coping mechanisms, I guess. Mine is other people, maybe. If shit is going wrong inside, I just find someone else and try to do what I do. Make them laugh. Get a smile. Charm them. It’s all a distraction.”

Pearl didn’t answer right away. “I’m sorry,” she said. “But, I appreciate you telling me that. It helps me understand you better. I’ve kind of been seeing myself as weak for still letting what Eric did haunt me so much.”

“Hell no,” I said, sitting up straighter. “You’re not weak, Pearl. Not at all.”

She gave a coy smile. “Hey, I’m the one trying to cheer you up. Don’t turn this around on me.”

I sighed. “I was just thinking how one person can only take so much, you know? How many times can people let you down before you can’t see anything else? How are you supposed to put your hand on the stove top, get burned, and then convince yourself the next time it won’t burn you?”

Pearl was quiet for a few moments. “I guess you just have to realize people aren’t stovetops.”

I grinned. “Brilliant insight, Pearl.”

“I mean… Maybe the problem has been the type of people we’re choosing to trust, not people in general. It’s different. A little, at least. We can believe people will do better next time because we can do better. You and I can both do a better job of picking the right person for ourselves, not the easy person. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always just taken the people I get handed. My family knows someone who knows someone, we meet, and we date. I’ve been too chickenshit to go after the guys I actually like.”

I thought about how I decided who to date in the past and felt a little pang of shame. “I guess I always just picked the prettiest woman in the room.”

Pearl smirked. “At least you can admit that’s what you were doing.”