Page 31 of Scoop Me Up
Cooper nudged Sam until they stood, before sliding out of the booth and calling out his goodbye. When Sam sat back down, they looked both annoyed and embarrassed, their cheeks and throat turning deep pink. I swallowed hard, my eyes on their throat, my mouth going dry.Stop it, I chastised myself.Friends.But I couldn’t stop the thought of my mouth on Sam’s throat from racing through my mind, unbidden. Heat flushed through me as my jeans tightened a little. The more time I spent with them, the more… intrusive my thoughts seemed to get.
Before Sam could say anything else, Conall arrived with our drinks, placing them in front of us. “Let me know if you need anything else,” he said with a nod before heading back to the bar.
I picked up my glass and took a sip of the whiskey, letting the sweet heat make its way down my throat and into my stomach. It was good, really good, and I caught myself taking another sip right away. For a moment, we sat quietly, and when I looked up from my drink, Sam was watching me. The second we made eye contact, they looked away, down at their glass. I had the urge to reach out and touch them, but I settled for taking a possibly too large sip of whiskey to calm my nerves.
“This is a great place,” I said, breaking the silence.
Sam nodded and sipped their beer. “It’s been here forever. A Maplewood staple. Like that whiskey you’re drinking.”
I sipped it again, already noticing the way it warmed my body, making me feel just a little more at ease. I put the glass down. It was nearly empty already and I bit my lip to tell myself to slow down. I was a lightweight, always had been, especially considering we hadn’t had anything for dinner, and I didnotneed to overindulge and embarrass myself in front of Sam. Not on our first night of being roommates. “This whiskey is a Maplewood staple?”
They hummed and nodded. “The maple comes from my cousin Jason’s farm, just a little ways that way.” They gestured westward.
“Your cousin Jason has a maple farm?”
“Been in the family for generations, actually.”
I nodded appreciatively. “That’s cool. Nobody in my family has anything of note going on.”
“Come on now,” Sam said. “Ellie’s going to change the world. We both know it.”
I couldn’t tell if the heat blossoming in my chest was from the whiskey or the deep happiness of someone else believing in my kid the way I did. “She just might,” I said with a nod. “I’m glad you’re helping her this summer. She’s never been a big reader, but she just loves your class. She’s reading a lot more independently now.”
Sam’s smile was shy and they sipped their beer again. “Thanks. It’s all Ellie. All I’m doing is encouraging her.”
“It takes a great teacher to get through to kids.”
They shrugged and smiled brighter. “Thank you for saying that. I’m just glad she’s having fun. Summers at school aren’t exactly the most exciting thing in the world.”
I took the final sip of my whiskey—how was the glass empty already?—and placed my empty glass down on the table. “You can say that again. I was the same way. Took summer school for years.”
“Not a star student, then?”
“Not in the beginning. And then once Ihadgotten better in school, I realized if I took summer school, I could get ahead. After that, there was no looking back. Some of my best summer memories are in school, actually, as silly as that sounds.”
“Not at all,” Sam said. “It just shows you had priorities. I spent my summers with my grandma, helping her in the kitchen mostly.”
I laughed again. “I would’ve thought you were the type to spend summers at the park, making out with someone. I mean, looking like you do, I’m surprised you didn’t attract crushes like bees to honey.”
Sam snorted and sipped their beer. “Hardly. Like I said, no relationships of note.”
“Just because you didn’t have relationships doesn’t mean you weren’t a hookup artist or something.” The idea made my stomach churn with jealousy.
A laugh burst out of them. “Not even a little.”
Good.Once again, I didn’t know why it mattered to me. I didn’t have any right to be jealous of Sam’s relationships, past, present, or future. We were friends.
“How about you? Hookup artist?”
At that moment, Conall stopped by our booth, noticing my drink was empty. “Can I refill that for you?”
“Yes, please.” I passed him the glass. “Thanks.” He only took a couple of moments to return with a full glass. I hummed appreciatively and sipped the maple-flavored whiskey. When Conall left us alone again, I looked back at Sam. “Where were we?”
“Hookup artist,” Sam prompted.
“Oh, right. No, definitely not. Like I said earlier, Jennifer and I met in grad school. Before that, there were a handful of girls, but nobody special.”
They nodded thoughtfully. “What about since the divorce?”
