Page 12 of Play Maker

Blue crossed her arms and tilted her head. “Have you talked to your roommates yet?”

I narrowed my eyes at her, then returned my attention to the road. “Are you asking because you want to change the subject?”

“Yes, but it also directly affects me. You wanted to spend time with me this summer so you could avoid them. I was interested to know if that was still the case.”

I winced. When she put it that way, I sounded like a dick. “I wasn’tonlydoing it to avoid them. Really, avoidance was a tiny perk compared to spending time with you.”

“Flattery doesn’t work on me.”

“You just haven’t experienced my flattery yet.”

Interest lit her eyes, but she stayed doggedly on topic. “I’m assuming your attempts to distract me mean you haven’t seen them.”

“Everyone was gone when I got home,” I relented.

Her expression softened, lips curling up into a tiny smile. “That must have been a relief for you.”

“It’s only a minor reprieve. Shaw’s going to kick my ass tomorrow when he finds out I skipped training today to go to a party. Then RJ will give him shit, and I’ll have to spend the rest of the session watching them eye-fuck each other.”

Just the idea of showing up and laughing off Eva’s absence made me exhausted. A week of enchiladas and smothering at my mom’s house helped create some distance, but I wasn’t stupid. The rest of the crew knew Eva had fled town rather than date me.

They weren’t here though. Blue was.

“What about Noah and Chloe?” she asked.

I shook my head as I turned into the parking lot for Papi’s. “With Eva gone, I figure Noah will spend most of the summer across the landing. Hell, even if Eva were here, he’d be over there every night. Did you know he bought her a bed?”

The Jeep lurched to a stop, and Blue glanced around at the other two cars taking up half the available spaces. “What is this place?”

I stopped staring at her long enough to make sure the building wasn’t on fire or something. Nope. Papi’s barely qualified as a restaurant on a good day. It was a converted gas station with two little tables inside, but it had air conditioning.

“Papi’s isn’t fancy dining, but they know how to make a damn fine taco. Come on, I’m buying.”

A couple of people sat at the picnic tables scattered around the grass outside, lit by the bright fluorescent lights inside the shop. They ignored us as I ushered Blue through the doors. The small space was clean and smelled like my mom’s kitchen.

The last bits of my annoying misery cloud lifted, and I made a note to come back here the next time it hit me hard. Food therapy.

Blue followed me to the counter and stared at the menu written directly onto the wall. In the three years I’d been coming here, it had never changed. The system worked great for Papi’s, college kids loved cheap Mexican food and a late-night tequila fix, but Blue wasn’t part of the usual college crowd.

She squinted at the scripty handwriting, then sent me a quick glance. “I’m glad you brought me here.”

“I’m glad you called.” Between her and the tacos, my night looked infinitely better than it had a few hours ago.

5

The tender moment lulled me into a false sense of security. I should have known better.

Blue leaned onto the counter and tried to smile at the cashier who was completely ignoring us. “I’ll have a margarita, extra—”

I covered her face with my hand, muffling the rest of her order. “She’ll have water and the big mama taco plate.”

Blue swatted at me, but she only landed a glancing blow against my side. Her mumbles got more aggressive though.

Three people showed up behind us, and I didn’t want to hold up the line, so I went with the quickest solution. I wrapped my arm around her waist, effectively flattening her flailing limbs at her sides.

“I’ll have the same thing. Thanks.”

The cashier wrote down our order and handed the ticket back to the kitchen without looking directly at us. I’d been coming to Papi’s Taco Stand at least once a week for the last three years, same middle-aged lady behind the counter, and I still didn’t know what color her eyes were.

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