Page 9 of Coping Skills

“Chess pie. You haven’t ever had it?”

She shook her head. “No. I’ve never even heard of it. Is it hard to make?”

Shrugging, he gave her a look that clearly said,How should I know?“I’ve never made a chess pie before. Or any pie, really. Not from scratch. My mom’s secret recipe was always to put a deep dish apple pie from the freezer section into her own pie plate.”

Elena laughed at that, and Daniel smiled. His straight white teeth in that adorable face melted her more than his flirting or even his stunned spluttering at what he thought she was originally suggesting, endearing him to her, moving him further into friend territory from random hook-up land, which was how she’d been thinking of him until now. Even if he was a repeat hook-up.

“So your mom didn’t make chess pie? Where did you have it?”

“Oh, she did, just not very often. The store bought apple pie in her own pie plate was her lazy dessert for company. She made pies at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and one of them was always chess pie. My grandma always made it growing up. You’ve seriously never had it?”

“Nope. I’ll look up a recipe, though. I’ll let you know if I don’t think I can.”

He grinned again. “Sweet. I usually only get it on holidays.” Finishing off his sandwich, he looked thoughtful, his brows coming together. “Why a pie, though?”

Elena looked down at her coffee cup, turning it in her hands. “Oh, I just like to make pies. I find it relaxing when I’m stressed or need to think. I’ve been making a lot of them lately, and even though I have two roommates, we can’t eat them all. So I’ve been finding people to give them to. I thought you might like one, that’s all. I’d’ve offered even if you hadn’t bought me coffee.”

When she glanced up, his eyes had softened with sympathy.

“Nope. No.” She pointed a finger at his face. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m holding myself together with duct tape and paperclips these days, and if you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to lose it. And I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Aside from the embarrassment of blubbering in public? I think if I give in and really let it all out, I’ll never stop crying.” She sniffed, looking up at the ceiling and blinking to dispel the tears that had gathered in her eyes despite her best efforts to keep them in check. Taking a deep breath, she willed them away, running her fingers under her eyes to wipe away any stray tears that may have escaped.

When she met his gaze again, the sympathetic look was gone.Gracias a Dios.Instead he sat back in his chair, looking her over, examining her.

“What?”

He shook his head slowly. “Nothing. Just thinking that if you need another way to de-stress, you can always hit me up for another round ofMario Kart. That worked pretty well last time.”

She chuckled. “You planning on it ending the same way as last time too?”

One corner of his mouth turned up. “I wouldn’t object to that, but that’s your call, not mine.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” The sudden influx of students made her look around and glance at the clock on the wall. “Shit. I have class in five minutes. I gotta run. Thanks for the coffee. If I don’t see you before this weekend, good luck with your game. I’ll text you about the pie, okay?”

They stood together. “Sounds good.” His hand closed on her arm after she slung her bag across her body, stilling her as she went to reach for her empty cup. He dropped a kiss on her cheek, grabbed their trash, and headed for the trash can a few feet away. She watched him for a moment, then left for her poli-sci seminar.

Daniel was a good guy. Understanding, sweet, and could fuck like a god. And all of that made him both tempting and dangerous. She could lose herself in a guy like that. And as much as that sounded like a great idea, she couldn’t handle letting anyone else into the mess inside her head these days. Besides, she was busy. Busy with class, busy with her dad’s business, busy studying for the LSAT. And busy worrying about her dad, worrying about her mom, and feeling guilty that she was so relieved to be away from both of them.

---