“That sounds good to me,” I say, grinning at her.
Mac comes over and leans against me like she’s attempting to sit on my lap.
“Move,” I say, pretending to struggle with Mac sitting on top of me.
“No,” Mac says, leaning her full weight against me. “I’m bonding.”
“You’re heavy,” I tease.
“You’re mean.”
Cassie begins shuffling the cards with the precision of someone who is taking this way too seriously. “Okay, we’re playing Go Fish to start out the festivities tonight.”
We all start laughing.
“Here I thought that you and Mac were real card sharks,” I say, shaking my head, grinning at them.
Mac has left my lap and is sitting beside me now. “Well, I didn’t plan very well for poker or anything, so this is what we’re starting with,” she says with a shrug. “It’ll be fun.”
“It sure will,” Amelia chimes in.
We play a few hands. Mac is cleaning up like the pro that she is. It’s then I decide to tell them about what August invited me too.
“Can you all keep a secret?” I ask.
All heads snap in my direction as Cassie stops mid-shuffle and Amelia slams her cup down on the table, looking at me with big eyes. I can see that I have everyone’s attention right now.
“Can you?” I ask them, grinning.
“You know that we will,” Mac says.
“Yeah, of course we can,” Amelia chimes in.
“Lay it on us, we’ve got you,” Cassie adds.
I sigh and shake my head. “It’s so weird. He’s being so weird?—”
Mac cuts me off. “Do you think that he’s cheating or something?” She looks ready to get up from this table and go murder him.
I shake my head quickly. “No, that’s not it at all. He’s being really sweet and he invited me to go to some charity gala with him. I need a nice dress, and I need to look fancy for this event. His father and brother will be there too.” I get it all out in a rush and watch them as they take in the information. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s great that he wants you to go with him to that. How do you feel about it?” Cassie asks me.
I shrug. “I’m nervous. Because I don’t like being in a dress. I mean, I have one; that’s not the issue,” I stutter out. “I just hate being all dressed up like that. I’m more comfortable in a pair of cleats and my goalie padding than in a dress.”
Amelia nods. “I get it. I’m not a fan of wearing dresses either. Can you wear a jumpsuit, or would it have to be a dress?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think that’s an option for this type of event. He said that I should be wearing a dress specifically. I have a dress that I wore in college. It’ll still fit and work.”
“What did you have the dress for? Were you wearing it at a college formal event with August?” Mac asks me.
I shake my head. “No, I didn’t go to a formal with him. He wanted to take me when we were freshmen, but I didn’t let him do that. Instead, we stayed in that night,” I say, grinning. “I got the dress to wear an event with the soccer team. So, I went and got a nice dress. I kept it just in case. So, I guess I’ll wear it to this event,” I say with a shrug.
“Doyouwant to go?” Mac asks me pointedly.
“I do. I think I wanna go. I’m worried about his family being there. Well, not Drew because he was nice to me when we were at the baseball game with him. His dad, though. He doesn’t like me on principle. I’m not good enough for his son,” I admit.
“Why does he think that?” Cassie says, sitting up straighter in her chair. “I thought that your dad was like, a lawyer in Philadelphia and your mom did all that charity work. Wouldn’t that make Cromwell happy that you were with his son?”
