Casey chuckles, then glances over her shoulder to check on me. I wave her ahead and follow behind. Several people greet Casey with tight hugs and loud laughs. Case pulls me forward with a hand on my lower back and introduces me to everyone. I politely wave and smile, but I know I won’t remember a single name. I don’t care if I’m a teacher, if my school didn’t require all students to wear name tags, I’d be screwed.
“You ready to get your ass kicked?” A tall, muscular guy, who I guess is Lily’s brother by their similarities and bright red hair, asks Casey.
“Keep talking shit,” Lily says and wraps her arm around Casey’s shoulder. “It makes winning so much sweeter.”
Casey grins as she slides her arm around Lily’s waist.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Lily says as they squeeze each other into another hug.
“Me too,” Casey says, and my heart constricts.
“Sick tattoo.” A soft voice says to my left, and I startle. Oh, it’s the cute butch I couldn’t help but notice during Casey’s introductions. I think her name is Madison—Miranda? Something with a M—shit.I forgot.
She has shaved sides and long messy brown hair that looks a little greasy on top. She’s wearing an open stripedshort-sleeve button-down with a navy sports bra underneath and board shorts.
“Thank you!” I instinctively hold up my right arm so she can get a closer look at my half sleeve. I got my first tattoo on a whim after coming out to my parents. My momhatestattoos—since our body is “God’s temple,” she’s disgusted by the idea of a person desecrating themselves. I got a peony flower in honor of my grandmother, who openly criticized organized religion. Weekends at her house, watching Jeopardy and eating lasagna are my favorite childhood memories.
Unfortunately, my mother cut off contact with grandma for putting “rebellious ideas” in my head when I was eight. I tried to reconnect with her after moving out, but my grandma died before I was fifteen, and I had no idea. So these peonies are for her.
Our own private little rebellion.
“Do you want to play winner?” Marissa asks.
“Um. Sure,” I say because I do love to play beer pong even if my preferred partner is unavailable. I guess it’ll be fun to play with McKenzie.
“We got next!” she announces to the group.
“You won’t have to wait long.” Lily’s brother sinks his next shot, and Lily curses.
Casey catches my eye and looks between Maya and me and cocks a curious eyebrow. I discreetly shake my head.
“I’m grabbing another. Want one?” Mindy holds up her can.
“Um. I’m okay. Thanks.”
“You sure?” Her smile is charming, I’ll give her that.
“Yeah. We went a little hard yesterday, so I’m taking it easy. At least until later.” I chuckle.
“I respect that.”
Casey makes a cup. Lily wraps her hand around Casey’s bicep, squealing in celebration. Lily has used every excuse to touch her. They make a cup? Celebratory hug. Miss a cup? A consoling rub on the back.
I roll my eyes.
Meredith laughs at something one of her friends says, and the sound is nice. It’s melodious and light, and the kind of laugh that makes you smile even though you can’t hear the joke. And you know what? Maybe I should get my flirt on. Casey clearly is. It’s obvious I was overthinking things on the boat. Nothing was going to happen, and itshouldn’t.I said so this morning. I won’t risk our friendship. But I also can’t stop staring as Casey laughs at everything Lily says with a weird knot in my belly.
“Who do you think is going to win?” I ask Mabel once she’s back at my side. She’s standing so close to me, our shoulders keep grazing each other.
“Definitely Landon and Trev.” Her grin is bright, not fading an inch, and I have to admit she’s really cute. Now I just need to figure out her damn name and remember it this time.
Casey glances over in our direction with narrowed eyes and a frown. That’s weird. I check over my shoulders, trying to figure out what or who Casey is glaring at, but don’t notice anything unusual.
“How do you know Casey?” she asks.
“We met in college playing for a queer kickball league,” I say. “This is really cool. I’ve been here a few times with her before, but I haven’t met any of her lake friends yet.”
“Damn, really?” She goes on to tell me how she knows everyone, but I’m only half listening. Casey and Lily whisper to one another. The corner of Casey’s mouth ticks up in a smile. They’re waiting for their opponentsto figure out what rerack they want, and the back of Casey’s hand bumps into Lily’s. Lily interlaces their fingers, and Casey doesn’t pull away. The ocean roars in my ears.
