Page 42 of Easy Out

10

HART

Koa walks into the house with four large pizzas and a bucket of buffalo wings. My stomach growls in appreciation.

“The Blazers are a new team. Give them time. They are still working out the kinks. It takes time to figure out how to jell and find a groove,” Nash says to Wyatt, who hasn’t stopped complaining about how shitty our new pro football team is playing.

“That’s all fine and dandy, but they are professionals. They get paid to throw and catch footballs. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to have a few expectations.”

I leave the two of them arguing in the living room and join Koa in the kitchen. “Thanks for getting the food.” I grab a plate and load it up with several slices of pizza.

“No problem. What’s up with Nash and Wy?” Koa nods his head toward an animated Wyatt. I roll my eyes.

“Who knows? They’ve been bickering like grumpy old men all morning.” I take a bite of pizza. “Where have you been?” Football Sunday isn’t a required activity, but it’s one we rarely miss. We’ve been doing football and pizza every Sunday together since elementary school.

Koa mumbles something unintelligible. “You want to try that again?” I snicker.

“I had to fix Sydney’s bookshelf. One of the shelves collapsed.”

“Oh shit,” I say, laughing.

“Oh shit is right. She was fuming. I also owe her a new candle, and something called a prayer plant. I have no idea what that is or where to find it.”

“Good luck with that.” I’m tempted to go with him just to see my tall, tatted friend roam the garden center looking for a prayer plant.

“I’m surprised she didn’t come over.” Sydney isn’t a football fan unless Nash plays, but she watches with us occasionally. When we were younger, she would ‘watch’ the game with her eyes glued to a book.

“Nah, Lauren was about to start braiding her hair. They won’t be done for hours,” he says with a mouthful of food. Enzo was right about braiding each other’s hair on the weekend.

“I’m shocked Sydney trusts her enough to try. She’s so touchy about her hair.”

“Don’t I know it. Remember that time I thought it would be funny to prank her and pretend I shaved off a chunk of her precious locks?” I nod and start chuckling.

“We were what? Fifteen or sixteen?”

“Something like that. I think it was tenth grade. Anyway, Lauren is apparently really good at doing hair. She does Sydney’s all the time.”

“How did you acquire all this information?”

“Sydney talks about her hair a lot.” Koa blows out an annoyed breath. “And she sends me pictures for whatever reason. She sent one earlier when I double-checked the headcount for pizza.”

“Let me see the picture.” Koa raises an eyebrow. I don’t care if I’m being obvious. I’m desperate to see Lauren. Even if it’s just a sliver of her.

I haven’t heard from Lauren since we met up at the library Wednesday night. I saw her in classes, of course. I managed to squeeze a ‘hi’ out of her. Otherwise, nothing.

I take that back. She sent me an e-mail. A fucking e-mail with the notes she took about the library. Along with her thoughts on how to structure our story.

I already had that information. She had chatted on and on about it quietly to herself while we were working side by side.

Endless chatter is like nails on a chalkboard to me. However, listening to Lauren prattle on to herself is an adorable quirk of hers. I could listen to her smokey voice all day long. Especially when she doesn’t even realize she’s talking.

Lauren did thank me for doing all the work marking the pages of the books we were researching. She also apologized for falling asleep. Lauren was so sweet when she was sleeping. Mi dulce brujita.

Koa clicks around on his phone and then flashes it in my face. I snatch the phone from him, making him chuckle.

I inhale a sharp breath. Sydney sent a selfie of her and Lauren. It’s just Syd’s eyes and the top of her head. Half her hair is brushed out prepped to be braided; the other is several rows of neat, colorful braids.

Behind her is what has my pulse racing. Lauren is wearing a tiny workout tank top and shorts. Her creamy skin is on full display. Her hands are busy working a braid. And her face. Mierda. Lauren has the biggest smile on her face. Es muy bonita. So pretty.

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