“Me and Attie can help too, once the season’s over. Put his muscles to use.” Kai pushed his long, pink-tipped hair back behind one ear, his many gold piercings on full display as he rose from his seat. “I’ve gotta go. Therapy time.”
Quick goodbyes were exchanged, and Kai left the two women sitting in the booth, side by side, half full drinks sweating pools of condensation on the table before them.
“So,” Ivy began, voice quieter. “You’re driving down there with Kieran?”
Sammie nodded again. “He messaged me today, said his parents want me to have dinner with them.”
Ivy chuckled. “You don’t really get a ‘meet the parents’ moment with them, do you? Must be easier that way.”
Was it easier, already knowing Grant and Meredith? Maybe, just a bit. She knew they were good people and loved them like they were family. They’d always been kind to her and Atticus, and had been some of her granny’s closest friends.
“It’s not like that,” Sammie said, shaking her head. “They’re just helping out with the house. Having a meal with them is the least I can do.”
“Oh.” Ivy’s eyes flicking back to her phone screen. “Sure.”
It was as if Ivyknew, as if she picked up on the fact that Sammie wasn’t telling her something. A change in the air between them, stiff and unyielding. They’d never had troubletalking about things before. Sammie had never hidden anything from Ivy. But it just felt sowrongto bring up the stuff with Kieran. If Kai was right, if Ivydidhave feelings for Sammie, wouldn’t that just be rubbing her face in it all?
And besides, Kieran had said he didn’t want people to know about his online persona. It wasn’t Sammie’s place to tell anyone else, right?
“Did you ever talk to that player from Louisville?” Sammie bumped Ivy’s shoulder, pulling her attention back.
Another small laugh. “Haven’t worked up the courage yet.” The smile Ivy gave her was more genuine, the bright kind of smile that had always made Sammie feel so at ease around her. “What do I say? ‘We met at that training conference and I’ve been cyber stalking you ever since?’”
“That’s one way of doing it,” Sammie laughed. “Sounds like one of my brother’s lines, actually.”
Ivy made a face, scrunching her nose up as she twirled a piece of hair from her messy ponytail. “Probably not the right way to go then.” A pause as she finished off her seltzer, followed by a defeated sigh. “I don’t know, feels weird to just roll into her DMs. I don’t even reallyknowher.”
And suddenly, Sammie wanted to tell her. Wanted to lay it all out, from the messages she’d sent Kieran to the conversation they’d had in the diner to what they were going to do together later that week. The things she was quietly—so quiet she could hardly hear the voice in her own mind—hoping it would all lead to. Talking to her brother, to Kai… they were great. But they weren’t Ivy. They weren’t her best friend.
Instead, she gave into the fear gently roiling in her gut and shrugged, giving Ivy another shoulder bump. “What’s the worst that could happen? She blocks you? Then you’ll know and you can move on to someone who sees what a fucking catch you are.”
And maybethatwasn’t the right thing to say, because when Ivy met her gaze again, Sammie swore she saw a sparkling hope there that made that knot in her chest pull even tighter.
CHAPTER EIGHT
SAMMIE: …
Sammie: What should I wear
Kieran: Don’t overthink it.
Kieran: Just something comfortable.
Sammie: Do I need to bring anything?
Kieran: Nope. I’ll take care of everything.
Kieran was nervous.
Kieran didn’t usually get nervous. Not when it came to recording explicit content that would be posted online for anyone to see.
He was used to it at this point, after years of settling into himself and who he was online. That’s why he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that his stomach was doing somersaults and his hands felt clammy. Sammie was set to arrive any minute, and Kieran wasnervous.
Maybe it was because he hadn’t worked with a partner in so long? That alone was outside of his norm. It wasn’t the fact that it wasSammie, just that another person was involved at all this time.
The realization did nothing to calm him.
A knock at the door echoed through his quiet apartment.
