Page 21 of Flaunt
Their house is so well put together and gorgeous. It has very strong details and lots of metals and blacks. But the spattering of pinks and yellows softens it just enough to make it clear that a woman lives here too.
“Hey,” I say, smiling at the two of them. “Thanks for inviting me over.”
Moss leans against the counter and nods.Man, he’s handsome. “No problem. We’re glad you could come.”
“I made brownies.” I hold a tray for them to see. “I’m not saying these are the best things you’ll ever eat in your life, but I did follow the instructions and they smell great.”
Brooke laughs and takes the dessert from me. “Oh, they do smell great. And they look great too.”
“Thanks. Speaking of smelling great—your house smellsamazing.”
“It’s the pizza dough,” Brooke says. “I love that smell too. It’s so comforting.”
I slide my hands down my sides, smoothing out the fabric of my blue sundress. My clothing options are limited, and this felt like the mostcasual dinner with friendsoutfit that I had on hand—even if I did have to wear a bikini underneath.
“You look very pretty,” Brooke says. “I love that dress.”
“Fifteen dollars at Brinkmann’s. They also have it in a mint green color that I love, but it looked weird against my skin.”
“Green can be hard to wear,” Brooke says, adding balls of dough to small round pans. “Unless you’re Moss. I love green on him.”
Moss smirks and shrugs. “I’m going to go get the pizza oven warmed up.”
Brooke smiles at him with little hearts in her eyes.So cute.
“Want me to help you?” I ask Brooke.
“Sure. I’m getting the dough ready so when Banks gets here, we can all make our own pizzas.”
I turn toward the sink so she can’t see the heat in my face.
I haven’t been able to forget the image of Banks with my vibrator in his hand. The whole situation feels surreal, and I half wonder if I didn’t imagine it. That whole day was a shit show.Maybe I was stress-dreaming.
“How have you been?” Brooke asks. “Ashley said you were staying with them until Wednesday.”
“Yeah.” I turn on the tap and squirt a shot of soap in my hands. “Maddox helped me find a rental. Those things are impossible to find in Kismet Beach right now. It’s awful.”
“I know. Pippa—do you know Jess’s girlfriend?”
I shake my head and finish rinsing my hands.
“Well, she was renting a place before she moved in with him. She was saying it was horrible trying to find something—let alone something that wasn’t overpriced.”
I turn off the tap and dry my hands. “It’s true. But it’s still cheaper here than in the surrounding areas. I just hope I can find a job that lets me still live in Kismet Beach.”
“You haven’t found anything yet?”
“No. I sent my résumé out to a bunch of places this morning. So fingers crossed.”
“Can you get out the sauce and toppings from the fridge?” she asks. “I forgot. I like to take the chill off them before we add them to the dough.”
“You’re a pizza expert, huh?”
She laughs. “No. Not at all. I’m a pizza hobbyist.”
“You sound like my kind of person.”
I dig around the refrigerator and find all the things she asks me to locate. My heartbeat settles. The nervousness that I had about coming over here magically melts away.
