Page 92 of Hate You, Maybe
“The theater teacher,” Jojo pipes up before I can. “Ms. Kroft.”
“Oooh, I like her plays,” my mother chimes in. Then she forces the salad bowl on my dad. “Here. Eat some greens.”
He frowns, but he takes a serving anyway. “Sayla Kroft. How come I know that name? Isn’t she the one going after the same grant money you are?”
I nod, shoving the rest of the roll in my face to avoid talking while I chew. I haven’t quite figured out how to tell my family I surrendered the FRIG to her department. Not that they don’t appreciate the performing arts. We attended all the school’s plays when I was a kid, just like the football games. But I’ve always been competitive, so they wouldn’t understand my sudden change of heart. And I doubt I could explain things to them without everyone hearing in my voice how much I care about Sayla.
And that would make my feelings for her real.
“Well, I think Sayla’s great,” Jo says, before slurping a big spoonful of soup.
“When did you meet her?” Landry looks skeptical, as usual. “Are you holding out on us, Jo?”
“She was in the car with Dex when I called him Monday. She was giving him a hard time right along with me. It was kind of hilarious.”
“Uh-oh.” Kendal shakes her head, a playful smile on her lips. “That sounds potentially hazardous.”
I gulp down the bread stuck in my dry, dry throat. “Hazardous?” I choke. “Why?”
“Because there’s nothing you find more attractive than a snarky woman,” Kendal says.
Landry guffaws. “Present company excluded.”
“Yeah, no.” I grimace. “I donotfind my snarky sisters attractive.”
“But is thisSaylaperson attractive?” my dad asks, wagging his brows.
“Lewis.” My mom kicks him under the table.
“You remember her, Dad,” Jo chimes in. “She’s the one who directed the musical last spring.”
“Oh,thatone?” He lets out a whistle. “Yep. She’s attractive all right.”
My mom swats him with her napkin. “Lewis!”
“Aww.” My dad leans over and plants a noisy smooch on her cheek. “Don’t be jealous, Margaret. You know you’re the only woman for me.”
“That’s sweet, Dad.” Kendal laughs. “But Dex is a free agent.”
“Hey.” Landry shoots me a look across the table. “Just be careful.”
“About what?” I take a long drink of water, suddenly parched here under the microscope.
“Some women can be manipulative when they want something.” She lifts a brow, surveying the table. “Again. Present company excluded.”
“People in general can be manipulative,” I protest. “But Sayla’s not one of them. She really opened up at this retreat. The whole point of our time there was to get real and honest. And we …” I cut myself off, when I notice everyone at the table staring at me. Except maybe Rowan. She’s stuffing a minestrone noodle in her mouth.
“Dude.” Tim smirks.
“What?”
Brock grunts. “You’re already so into her, man.”
“Nah.” I set down my glass. “I’ve got a handle on it.”
“Dex is in loooove,” Jo coos.
I roll my eyes. “What are you, eight years old?”
