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Cole patted his thighs, signaling I should put my foot up. I leaned back, bracing on my wrists and agreed.
“I hope you don’t have a thing for feet,” I joked nervously.
Cole gently straightened my foot and worked silently and intently on the mangled buckle.
I continued nervously in the uncomfortable silence, “Cuz I haven’t had my toes done in a couple of weeks. I need a pedicure.”
He laughed with an appreciable deep timbre in his voice. “Nope. I’m not a foot guy.”
Cole freed my foot and I breathed a sigh of relief. He repeated the sequence with the other in a strangely intimate, bizarrely sweet gesture. Cole sat my left foot back on its heel and looked at me for confirmation, I was still okay. He had the deepest brown eyes in this light. It was like we couldn’t shake one another. He stood.
“I’m sorry, I’m like dripping all over your floor.”
“It’s okay. Let me get some towels,” I said, carefully crossing towards the laundry room. I grabbed three beach towels—tossing him one and then leaning to mop up the floor.
“Were you going to… do weed?” Cole asked.
I pulled back to a standing position.
“So what if I was?” I asked, feeling this out.
“Can I join you?” Cole asked.
“Are you willing to order us pizza and pick up the order at the door before they ring the bell and wake up the three toddlers and a baby sleeping upstairs? My friends dipped first. I just left before all my parents’ friends could get the lowdown on my breakup from hell.”
“I have been that guy before, so yes.”
“I want greasy deep dish—the more cheese the better,” I said. “And after I pop half of one of these, I’m gonna want a slice of cheesecake.”
“I will order whatever,” Cole agreed. “I’m right there with you.”
* * *
COLE
I checked on the dog, realizing I locked the door out of paranoia after going out to swim. As I panicked to find the backup-backup key, I found my phone only. Retracing my steps on the pool deck, I came up empty handed.
“Well, shit,” I groaned, returning to the main house.
“Oh, what does Piper want?” Chloe asked.
“One of them invited her to sleep over and watch some reality show with some school friends.”
“Aww, she’s already making friends,” Chloe said sweetly. “Love that for her.”
“Yeah. Same. Uh, I’ve got a problem.”
“Yes?”
“I managed to lock myself out. I didn’t have a lanyard or keychain for our second copy of the key,” I explained. “So I just had it out there by the pool, but now I can’t find it. And I don’t even have a flashlight. You have a backup?”
“Security does, but if we call them, they will take 2 hours and wake up the entire house. There is a neighborhood association and most of us have private security drop in occasionally. There is a spare key somewhere but… don’t ask me where right now. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” I said, worried my stress-busting swim was about to cost me a night’s sleep, but knew the dog would be fine.
“It’s okay. It’s fine,” Chloe said. “We’ll find it in the morning. Oh, shit, you’re dripping wet. Give me a second.”
She flitted away like a ping pong ball upstairs, obviously no worse for wear from the fall. I’d been watching her teeter in heels reaching for something. Weed gummies? It wasn’t my first guess, but Chloe was an interesting woman. I didn’t understand her. However, I knew she had a big heart. And once more she saved my bacon with a plush blue robe.
