“Eh, I call bullshit on that.” I snorted.
“Okay, not super violent. And really, it’s only on the field. If we’re hanging out again, I promise I won’t hit you.” Lo nudged Ivy’s arm gently.
“Oh.” Ivy blinked, cracking her knuckles like she used to do when she was caught off guard. The movement caused me to eye her midriff, two inches of it exposed with her crop top, some dark ink teasing the waist of her jeans, and a flash of interest surprised me.
She had always been petite and cute, but ink? A tattoo? What in the world would she get? She’d wanted to get one since third grade but never figured out what to do. Clearly, she had. And I had no part of it. I hated not knowing. It sucked.
You don’t have the right to ask, so shut up.
But had Ivy always been hot?
No. This is new.
My gaze moved along her body, my breath catching in my throat at her skin. The craziest, weirdest urge to touch her had me stepping backward.
“Anyway, I’m reconnecting with this girl, and it has been incredible. So, if you two were really close in high school, there is never a bad time to form connections again with someone.” She smiled, glancing at the two of us before going back to the cage. “You are so sweet, little baby. Look at your nose and whiskers!”
“We can get them out and play with them if you want?” Ivy asked, her posture way too straight.
That girl had the worst sitting position ever. I saw social media ads all the time for the chair for people who sat goofy, and every time, I wanted to buy it for her. But now… she was on edge.
Because I was here.
Yes, focus on that instead of how hot she is now.
Ivy carefully got the kittens out of the cage and set Lo up on the floor to play with them. They had to be bottle-fed too, and Lo about cried with joy. I was glad she wanted to come. It was right up her alley, and Luca had to visit his grandma for the day, so it was perfect.
Watching Ivy and Lo laugh and play with the kittens made me smile. In another life, one where that summer hadn’t happened, these two would totally be good friends. Lo was all fire where Ivy was the wind.
Ivy was had layers you had to get through to know her, but Lo burst right through them with ease.
“I love this so much. Oh my god, do you come here every week?” Lo asked, two kittens on her chest.
“Yeah. I do.” She swallowed, not looking at me. “I’ve tried to help out shelters as often as I could since middle school.”
“Wow, that’s incredible. I was just all soccer in middle school, not volunteering unless it was on the field. Do you want to work with animals or athletes after school?”
“Was that an either or, because they’re the same to me.”
“Ha!” Lo cackled again. “You’re so funny. Mack, my roommate, would love you.”
“You didn’t tell the whole story, Ivy Lee.”
Shit.I Ivy Lee’d her. That was also a middle school mistake. I thought it was so funny her middle name was after her grandpa and refused to call her anything but Ivy Lee for two years because I was a dumb preteen boy.
Even now, her eyes flashed at me. “Don’t start that,Calliope.”
“You embarrassed to admit you cheated on a test in algebra, so you had to ask this jock for the answer?” I fired back. “They caught you and made you do community service at twelve. That’s why she’s been coming here for almost ten years.”
“Yeah, but you gave me the answer, so you are equally complicit.”
“Because I wanted to help my best friend out who struggled with math? Psh, you’re the criminal, not me.”
Ivy rolled her eyes. “Oh my, not this again.”
“Wait—” Lo said, grinning so wide she looked like a cartoon character. “Let’s revisit Calliope.”
“Let’s not,” I said, glaring at Ivy. “Ivy Lee misspoke.”
