Page 101 of On the Power Play

"I've never wanted anything more." Mary filled her glass with water and took a drink. "Where are the cutting boards at?"

Delia laughed. "How long have we been here, and neither of us knows where the cutting boards are?" She turned and started opening cupboards. Once they'd found all the supplies, they stripped the produce bags off zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, and yellow squash. Delia washed the veggies and revelled in the cool water running over her fingers. She'd debated what to make for Clara, but eventually settled on a traditional French ratatouille, a recipe she'd always made with her mother. Clara might not need comfort food, but she sure as hell did.

Delia passed the zucchini to Mary and started peeling the eggplant.

"You deflected." Mary dropped the knife.

"Deflected what?"

"My question."

Delia ignored the impulse to snap that she’d done the exact same thing when she’d asked about Alvin. "About Jack? I told you, he?—"

"He stayed the night."

Delia couldn’t keep the words out of her mouth any longer. “Alvin drove you home.”

Mary's eyes flicked up. She either had to give something up about the friends she was avoiding or let the whole thing go. Mary cleared her throat. "What did you two do all evening?"

Delia rotated the eggplant and slid the peeler from base to tip. "Had mind-blowing sex." Mary rolled her eyes, and Delia scoffed. "What did you think we were doing? I'd just found out there was a porno of me going viral. It didn't exactly put me in the mood for anything besides pathetic weeping and curling up in the fetal position."

Mary exhaled. "Fair. I'm so sorry, Dels. I can't even imagine. The second I heard, I came back, but your door was already closed."

Delia sighed. "It's fine." Jack was there. She dropped the eggplant on the cutting board and started slicing. "I mean, it's not fine, but I didn't expect you to be sitting here at my beck and call. I'm glad you went out and had fun."

Mary scooted past yet another opportunity to give her insider information. "It's incredible Tyler got it taken down."

"I know. I'm so grateful, it physically hurts. I feel guilty for every time I made fun of the computer nerds in high school."

Mary laughed. "You think Tyler was a computer nerd?"

Delia had to smile at that. If they searched the antonym for "nerd," Tyler's beautiful face would probably be the Google generated response. Delia put the eggplant slices in a strainer, then sprinkled salt over the pale coins and set the strainer in the sink.

"You have a game to go to tonight?" Mary asked.

"Yep. Didn't have a chance to talk about it with Jack in all the hubbub, but he told me last week I have a spot in their suite if I want it."

"It's not one of your contracted public appearances?"

Delia licked her lips. "No."

"What about the media training?"

Delia reached out for the peppers. She shook her head.

Mary raised an eyebrow. Her knife went still. "So. Jack."

Blood rushed in her head, making her dizzy. "Mmhmm." Mary pursed her lips, fighting a smile. Delia's brows pinched. "What?"

Mary shook her head, focusing hard on the zucchini in front of her. "Nothing."

_____

Two hours later, Delia stood on Clara's porch dressed in khaki trousers and a white tank top layered under a patchwork sweater with baggy sleeves that hung mid-hip. It was Jack's house, too. Something fizzed inside her at the thought of walking into his living space. She wondered if she could find an excuse to peek into his bedroom, then realized she was being creepy and banished the thought from her head. As best she could.

Clara opened the door, still in her scrubs. Her eyes widened, then she looked down and saw the casserole dish in Delia's hands. "What's this?" Clara pushed the storm door open.

"Jack didn't tell you?"

---