“I’m going to go see if Gabby needs help in the kitchen,” Skylar told group. She didn’t want to hover, but she was dying for a chance to talk to Pierce, who hadn’t even said hello when he walked in the door. “Do you guys want the rest of my cards?”
In the kitchen Skylar found Gabby laughing and picking up a popcorn explosion from the tiled floor. “Whoops! Men overboard!”
Skylar squatted down to help Gabby, tugging on the back of her shorts to make sure she wasn’t showing her crack to the rest of the room.
Just then Em came up behind them.
“Here’s a dustpan,” Em said, holding out a little pan and broom. “Might be a bit faster.”
Of course Em would come to the rescue, Skylar thought, feeling unreasonably resentful. Like Gabby couldn’t have found a dustpan herself.
“Thanks, Emmy!” Gabby swept the rest of the mess up quickly. “Much better. Now, should I try some cayenne on the next batch?”
“The spicier the better, Gabs,” Em said. “But you’ll have to tell me how it turns out. I’m heading home.”
Em never stuck around, Skylar noticed. She was always leaving early—when she showed up at all.
“Already? But Em, it’s only, like, nine p.m.!” Gabby pouted. “Guys, should Em leave yet?” she asked the whole kitchen.
“Thanks, sweetie, but I’ve really gotta go. I have a ton of studying to do tomorrow.” Em started to wrap her scarf around her neck. “à beint?t, escargot.” She gave Gabby a hug and a kiss on the cheek and smiled at Skylar. And then she was gone, to a chorus of “Bye, Winters!” before Gabby could protest any more.
“What’s that ‘bien escargot’ thing?” Skylar asked, feeling the need to fill the air left in Em’s wake.
“Oh, it’s Em’s special way of saying bye to me,” Gabby said with a smile. “We’ve been doing it forever.”
How nice. Skylar made her way to the fridge. “Do you want me to make one more batch of the toffee-peanut kind?” she asked Gabby, desperate to be helpful. Gabby responded with a thumbs-up before running back into the living room, where someone had just called her name.
“Need help opening that?” Pierce suddenly appeared next to her, motioning to the jar of toffee sauce. She looked dizzily back and forth between him and the jar, so giddy at his approach that she didn’t immediately grasp what he was talking about. Then she understood: He was being chivalrous.
“Sure,” she said, heart leaping, even though she’d watched her mother crack open beer bottles on countertops more times than she’d care to admit. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” he said, towering over her and tensing his muscles as he twisted the lid. “Having fun?”
“Totally,” she said, nodding eagerly. “And I’m excited for my party next week too.”
“Oh yeah.” Pierce looked like he was just remembering it. “That’ll be fun.” He handed her the bottle and her brain spun as she tried to think of what to say next.
“So . . . are you guys, like, practicing?”
He looked at her, puzzled. “Practicing?”
“I mean, I know it’s not football season, but do you guys practice during the off-season?” Shit. She sounded like a total tool.
“Oh. Um, a little. We do once-a-week gym sessions on Saturday mornings,” Pierce said, before turning to go. “Be right back—bathroom break.”
Great. Her sparkling conversational skills had done it again. She wondered if she should join the poker game so she could spend more time with him when he got back. But the table full of guys was intimidating. . . . And she barely knew how to play poker.
As Skylar went to get a mixing bowl from the cupboard, she saw herself in a small mirror that hung next to the kitchen doorway. She stopped short. She was a mess. Her forehead was shiny, her bouncy curls had fallen flat, her eyes had the dull glaze of someone who’d had beer for dinner. She saw herself in a whole different light. The skimpy spaghetti-strap top, the booty shorts. The garish green. The lace. She looked like she was trying too hard. No wonder Pierce had avoided her like the plague all night!
She changed her course immediately and left the kitchen, sneaking up to Gabby’s bathroom on the second floor. She needed to clean herself up.
In the bathroom’s harsh light she ran a comb through her hair and blotted away the oil with a piece of toilet paper. She took a deep breath and drank a Dixie cup full of water. When she got downstairs, she would put on her sweatshirt. It didn’t match, but who cared? At least she’d maybe feel more comfortable.
She was on her way back to the staircase when she heard Gabby’s voice, and another muffled one, coming from Gabby’s room. Skylar listened more closely. There was no mistaking it. That was Pierce’s voice. What were they doing up here? Her stomach flipped. Were they talking about her?
She tiptoed down the hall and tried to peer through the crack in the door, which wasn’t fully closed.
Everything froze: her heart, her blood, her thoughts.