Page 7 of Not Safe For Work

“I’m not defending him. If it was up to me, he’d be gone immediately, but that’s not going to happen, and Sizzl cannot handle bad press right now. So please, for the love of god, just let it go.”

“What do you mean, we can’t handle bad press? Is something happening?”

Yes, something’s happening. And while I love my sister and want to tell her everything, I’ve been keeping this one to myself. It’s not that I don’t trust her, but this is not a secret I can risk getting out. And Gabby talks to Andie way too much.

Daanesh confided in me a few weeks ago that the board is considering an acquisition offer, amassiveoffer. If it all goes through, I’ll make so much money from my stock options that I’ll never have to worry about me and Gabby again.

The last twelve years, ever since I became my sister’s legal guardian, haven’t exactly been easy. Between putting myself through college while working two jobs, paying off our student loans in what feels like a never-ending cycle, and now working my ass off to get us out of debt…it’s fucking exhausting.

It’s even harder dealing with it all alone. I should have let her take out loans when she offered, but I hated the idea of her being in debt too. And since I’ve also fibbed a tiny bit on my salary, and our rent, she thinks I’m covering everything without issue.

Which is why I amdesperatefor this deal to go through, even if I have to keep my mouth shut for a few more months to protect assholes like Davide. Because once it does, I’ll never have to keep anything from Gabby again. I’ll be able to take care of her like I promised I would the day I signed those papers declaring her my responsibility.

“Can we talk about something else, please? We can even go back to Liv if you really want to,” I plead.

“I made Churro a new sweater,” Kadesha offers. “I’m working on sunglasses too, but they’re trickier than I thought.”

“Nice. I haven’t even had a chance to say hi considering Gabby’s beenberatingme since I got home.” I flash them both a grin to show I’m (mostly) joking, and head to the living room where we keep Churro’s cage. Cage is probably not the rightword. It’s more like a tiny Pottery Barn styled habitat. We have a very spoiled hedgehog.

I drape the sling Kadesha made for us over my shoulder and gently grab Churro to place him inside. The sweater she knitted is red and only covers his top half. He looks like a tiny, prickly Winnie the Pooh.

“Hey pal.” He makes a little chirping sound in response, letting me know he’s happy to be in his sling.

“He really loves it in there.” Kadesha smiles at him. “I’ll have to make another, just in case.”

Kadesha is some sort of crafting wizard. Her Etsy shop is killing it, selling mainly pet accessories with a few items for humans every now and then. She pulled in over twenty grand during Halloween last fall and has won numerous awards for being a top BIPOC owned small business.

“That would be great,” I say, right before my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out to check the message.

Olivia Diamond:

I’m SO sorry to bother you, but could you remind me about the pricing tiers for our creation team? I’ve been searching google docs for an hour and can’t find anything. SOS!

I must be grinningbecause Gabby actually croons when she says, “Who’s texting you, Gav? Could it possibly be a gorgeous redhead with a loving boyfriend? Hmm?”

“Shut up, Gabby.” I grab a second helping of lasagna and take it into my bedroom so I can cut up a few little pieces of meat for Churro.

And then I call Liv.

“Scottie?” she answers. “I’m so sorry I texted but Eduardo wasn’t responding and you always know everyth?—”

“Hey, Sparkles.” That always seems to shut her up. I can’t tell if she likes or despises the nickname, but I can’t seem to stop either way. “First of all, take a breath.” I wait a second, letting her know I want to hear it. After a few beats of silence, it comes. “Why are you even looking up pricing? You never go through pricing on a first meeting, especially customizations and add-ons.”

“I know, I know. But I just keep thinking, what if they ask? And then I won’t know the answer and then Mitch will say I wasn’t prepared, and I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m not ready to run my own deals and?—”

“Jesus, Liv.Breathe. Seriously.”

She obeys again and during this moment of silence I get a quick hit of gratification that she came to me in a time of crisis. Normally I’d blow her off, say I’m too busy to talk, but something about being alone in my room with Churro has me wanting to let my guard down for once.

“Liv,” I start, but she cuts me off.

“I’m sorry,” she says, her breathing even again. “I’m so sorry for texting you. I shouldn’t have bothered you with this.”

I can tell she’s ready to hang up and I should let her. But this is the first time I’ve ever talked to her on the phone. It’s the first time I can let myself grin at the sound of her voice without fear of her noticing. I probably shouldn’t find her nervous energy as adorable as I do. But I’ve never been very good at pretending, which is why I usually stay away.

“It’s fine. Just tell me what you need to feel prepared. I’ll help you.”

“Really? You want to help me?”

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