Piper looks totally at ease. She’s wearing a short denim skirt and a tight black tank, and her dark curls are pulled into a high ponytail.
Our eyes meet across the busy restaurant, and she grins.
Piper
It was touch and go, getting Tati to Blitz Brews.
As soon as she got home from work, I spouted a carefullycrafted lie about getting started on my college admission essays. While she seemed pleased, she didn’t jump at the chance to reward me. She’s never been the positive reinforcement type—not with me or herself. As she often reminds me, she doesn’t have the time or the money to indulge. She’s got to stay focused and keep a roof over our heads.
Okay, Tati.
I insisted on dinner out, guilted her into it with the phrase I use sparingly and judiciously—Mom and Dad would have taken me.Then I offered to drive because I’d strategically waited until she’d had a glass of wine to suggest leaving home.
When I pull her Volvo into the parking lot of Blitz Brews, she has an absolute fit.
“What’s the big deal?” I say as I shift into park. “I want seafood.”
“I’d rather have Italian.”
“That’s stupid.” I open the door and step into the balmy night. “It’s hot. I’m not eating heavy pasta when fresh fish is an option.” I walk toward the restaurant with her keys in hand. Obstinate as she is, I don’t think she’ll opt to broil in the car while I eat red snapper in an air-conditioned sports bar.
Behind me, a car door slams.
“Wait up!” she calls.
***
I see Henry before he sees me.
He’s sitting at the bar, talking to his dad.
My heart manages a swoop of excitement before I bully it back into submission.
He’s in jeans and a gray T-shirt, and his hair is disheveled in its usual way. His sunburn has become a tan, and it’s doing him all kinds of favors.
I’m looking at him not like a hot guy, I realize, but like a hot guy with potential.
A flurry of nerves kicks up in my stomach.
Henry’s my buddy, my neighbor, my partner in crime.
He’s not a prospect.
And anyway, tonight isn’t about him or the undeniable exhilaration I feel when I think about being with him. Tonight’s about Tati and Davis.
I speak to the hostess while my sister squirms beside me. It’s strange, acting as the adult in our duo, but I manage, requesting atable because those are closer to the bar than the booths circling the restaurant’s perimeter. “For four,” I whisper while Tati’s distracted, digging around in her purse for her trusty Ruby Woo.
We have to wait a few minutes. The longer we stand in the lobby, the more my sister resembles a caged and very agitated tiger. I elbow her as she rocks from foot to foot and take immense pleasure in saying, “Holy balls, Tati. Stand still already.”
“I’m trying,” she mutters, opening a compact to apply her lipstick.
Oh my god, this is thebest.
I sneak another peek at Henry, who’s guzzling soda. He looks nervous. But then his eyes collide with mine and spark with light. I smile. His whole face comes alive.
It’s a heady feeling, wielding the power to animate someone so vividly.
“Let’s go,” Tati snaps, pushing me forward, shattering the trance I’ve fallen into.
