Page 68 of Play Me
The door clicks open again, and the telltale sign of Gianna’s heels clicks against the linoleum floor. “Have I ever mentioned that I loathe street parking?”
Audrey looks at me and grins. “Only every time you do it.”
“I wasn’t born to be a parallel parker.” Gianna sweeps through the room with main-character energy and collapses into a rocking chair that I picked up at a consignment store around Christmastime. “I need one of those cars that do it for you.”
“They make those?” I wrinkle my nose. “I think you imagined that.”
Gianna shakes her head. “No, they do. I have no idea what they’re called, but I was boinking a dude from Franklin who drove one. It’s a cool feature.”
“Boinking.” Audrey giggles. “Where do you come up with these terms?”
“Fine.Fucking. Is that better?” Gianna sticks her tongue out at Audrey. “Anyway, I’m here. Can someone fill me in on why we were summoned here on a rainy Thursday night? I canceled a nail appointment for this, I’ll have you know.”
All eyes are on me. I’m the one who called the emergency meeting, and I’m embarrassed about it.
Going with Gray to Sugar Creek tomorrow is no big deal. I’ve told myself this a thousand times. It’s a free ride because he was going there anyway. But despite how many times I say it, whether it’s just repeating it in my head or speaking it aloud, my body refuses to believe that I’m not about to run a marathon with lions.
The adrenaline and anxiety are real.
I uncoil my legs and plant them on the floor. My insides squirm with the anticipation of telling my friends about my trip tomorrow, and I wish I could get away with not telling them at all. They’re going to overreact and probably make my nervousness worse before they make it better.
Why am I nervous to begin with?
And what am I going to wear?
God, I’m a mess.And Ihatebeing messy.
I just need a moment to pull myself together.
“Before I get into why I asked you to come over, can you finish your sunshine story, Aud?” I ask.
She beams. “Yes. Okay. So Andrew called me last night about Mom and Dad’s anniversary. We’re throwing them a little get-together with their friends. It’s going to be so cute. Anyway, while we were chatting, he might’ve mentioned that a few of the guys he hangs out with rented a little house on the Cape for a weekend coming up.” She scoots to the edge of her seat, her eyes twinkling. “And guess who got an invite?” She squeals, tapping her feet against the floor. “If I could do a cartwheel, I would.”
Gianna and I exchange a grin.
“I’m guessing your crush will be there?” I say.
“Yeah. It took a bit of finessing to find out if he was going without straight-up asking Andrew, but I managed.”
“This might be it, Audrey,” Gianna says, pointing at her. “This is your chance to put some moves on your man.”
Audrey flushes. “I don’t have any moves. How can I be your friend and not have moves?”
“Because you won’t let me teach you,” Gianna says. “How much time do we have? I can make you a little vixen, but I’ll need a few weeks.”
I fire a look at Gianna, warning her to tread lightly. We don’t want to make Audrey freak out. She’s waited too long for this. “You don’t need moves, Aud. Guys love girls like you. You’re sweet and pretty.”
“You’re fresh meat,” Gianna deadpans.
Audrey curls her nose. “Nice visual.”
“Did you bring my shirt, by any chance?” Gianna asks. “If you did, I don’t want to forget it.”
“It’s in my car,” Audrey says. “And don’t try to hem it yourself next time, please. You just make it harder for me in the end.”
Gianna shrugs.
“Your turn, Astrid,” Audrey says, settling in for story time. “What’s going on? Is this about the Trace thing? You met with the attorney today, didn’t you?”
