Page 2 of Plays Well With Others

I set down the goods on the kitchen counter and check my phone. Twenty minutes. Just enough time to look presentable.

Note to self: add showers to your to-do list.

As I hightail it to the bathroom, the device vibrates with a text.

Elodie: Guess what I got for you?

That’s such a trick question. I don’t even want to play her guessing game, since I’ll get it wrong. But I do love gifts from all my friends fiercely. As I strip off my stinky shirt, I reply.

Rachel: A pony?

Elodie: You’re close. Think horses.

Hmm. Does my chocolatier bestie know any hot cowboys to set me up with? A gal can dream. With my phone in one hand, I shimmy off my exercise pants, dictate a reply, then hit send.

Rachel: A date with a hot cowboy who’ll ride in on a stallion?

Elodie: *writes down idea for next year’s Christmas gift.* Anyway, not that, but you can definitely ride this stallion.

I’m simultaneously excited and terrified as I toss my panties into the nearby hamper.

Rachel: Tell me the make and model!

Elodie: I’d better show you. I’ll come by later. Gotta go. Customer here.

And I’ll have to addSee Elodieto my to-do list, but she’ll be a bright spot for sure, and after a terrible year (or five, but who’s counting), I do enjoy my bright spots. I set the phone down on the vanity, then turn on the water in my spacious rainfall shower—another bright spot in my life. As it heats up, I loop my hair into a bun.

Ten minutes later, after a scalding shower that steams up every surface in the bathroom, my butt no longer aches and I’m fresh as a coconut.

With the tropical bodywash scent filling the little room, I grab a towel. While I dry off, my phone buzzes again. I peer at the device, but the glass is steamed up.

Looks like Elodie’s texting again.

I’ll write back in just a second. Gotta dry my legs first.

The phone rings.

I sigh, but I’m laughing. She’s so impatient. I swipe up, answering the call without looking as I dry my back. “I solved your riddle. You got me a ten-speed vibrator. It’s called the Cowboy. And yes, I will test it tonight.”

Silence.

Nothing but crickets for five long seconds. Then a throat clears.

A masculine throat.

Carter’s handsome face looks out at me from the screen. “If that’s a hint, I can leave right now and pick that up for you,” he says, and when I look closer, I see my street behind him since he’s on my front stoop.

I freeze, all my dignity evaporating with the shower steam.

I’m naked, and I just flashed my best friend my boobs.

2

THE WORD OF THE DAY

Carter

Earlier this morning as I was brewing my coffee at home, I ripped off a page in my word-of-the-day calendar in the kitchen.

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