“I’m getting really annoyed with you giving Jacoby all the credit.” Dave playfully pouted and crossed his arms in feigned attitude. “You used to always sing my praises, and now he gets it all. What’s next, Tosh? Will you start introducing me as your roommate?”
“Oh, I’m sorry…what should I be calling you?” I didn’t bother to hide my smile.
I was in too good of a mood to pretend to be anything other than ridiculously happy.
Just then, Adam approached us, dressed in a pair of dress slacks, a white button-up shirt, and a tie decorated with Mario and Luigi. He made me laugh. I doubted he’d touched a console since the mid-2000s.
“You two have exceeded my expectations.” The excitement brightened his brown eyes and widened his smiling lips. “I can’t wait to see what you guys do next.”
Halfway through this project, Adam had come to us regarding another—bigger—proposal. This time, though, it involved Jacoby as well. He’d spent years pondering ways to give back, one idea being a scholarship program for teens, but he had never been completely sold on that concept. Once we began this project, it’d taken him less than six months to settle on the perfect solution.
Rather than create a scholarship in his name, Adam had decided to invest in youth centers all over the country. It was a brilliant idea, one we couldn’t turn down. While Dave worked with the kids, finding out what they all wanted out of the center, my job was to design the arts centers, which included the arcades. We’d agreed that every building needed an area designated for gamers. And Adam had hired Jacoby to design the lawns, thanks to his landscaping skills.
The one downfall was that it would require a bit of traveling, but we’d agreed that it didn’t matter as long as we were all together. We’d labeled ourselves the three musketeers, which was where Adam had gotten the name for his charity: The Fourth Musketeer Foundation.
Jacoby shook Adam’s hand with a smile. “We already have so many plans drawn up. I can’t wait for you to see them.”
“Well…” He slapped Jacoby on his shoulder and squeezed it for a beat. “Let’s get through this so I can take a look. After what I’ve seen, I just know the next concept will blow my mind.” Adam then turned his attention to me and lowered his voice when he added, “I saw your mom come in. Just wanted to give you a heads-up…didn’t know if you were aware that she would be here today.”
I nodded my thanks while frantically scouring the room for her face. I’d sent her an invite, but like with all things in my life, I hadn’t expected her to actually show up. I knew she’d come if she knew Adam had any part of this, so I’d purposely left his name off the card.
“Are you okay?” Jacoby and Dave asked at the same time.
Again, I could only manage to nod. Truthfully, I was terrified—not of my mother, but at the possibility that she could ruin this entire ordeal. I’d grown up in Tiff’s shadow, not because Tiff had always been so much better at everything than me, but because my mom had aimed the biggest, brightest light at my sister, creating such a large shadow. I’d always been okay with it, though, because I didn’t care to have that attention. However, for the first time in my life, I was more than proud of this accomplishment, and I wanted to show it off.
Someone came up from behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I was too focused on looking for my mom that it startled me, causing me to gasp and turn quickly on my heel. When I spun around, I came face-to-face with a large bouquet of flowers rather than a person. Normally, this would be when most people swooned and put their noses to the blooms, thankful for the sentiment. But not me.
Rather than swoon, I gasped. Well, it was more of a half-gasp, half-shriek. And instead of pulling the arrangement to my face to smell the fragrance, I took the bouquet by the silk-wrapped stems and used it as a weapon. Luckily, I didn’t go too far before I understood that I was bashing Ty over the head with more than a dozen roses.
“Why do you always do that?” he asked while frantically fixing his hair. Not that it was messed up. That man used enough styling products that he’d be found in the aftermath of a hurricane, not a hair out of place.
“Maybe if you stopped sneaking up on me, then I wouldn’t always attack you.”
I’d heard from Ty a few times since leaving Tiff’s that day, though this was the first time I’d seen him in person. I’d never admit it, but I sort of missed the guy. I’d gotten so used to having him in my business every day that things had felt a little off for a bit.
Excited to see him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed, except it didn’t last long. After a second, my mother showed up, and let’s just say she wasn’t as happy to see Ty as I was. Apparently, things between him and Tiff didn’t go so well after I’d left.
“Why would you invite him here?” Mom moaned. “After all the problems he’s caused…”
“Well, I’m not Tiff, so I didn’t see the point in not inviting him.” After I’d walked away from my role as Tiffany Lewis, my sister fired Ty. Apparently, with no one to film for her, she was pulled from the show, ruining all her plans for a bathing suit line—as well as whatever popularity she had left.
Ty, likely feeling awkward, squeezed my hand and offered a sympathetic smile before excusing himself. I didn’t want him to leave, but I also didn’t want to subject him to more of this.
“If I knew he’d be here, I wouldn’t have come.” Leave it to my mother
