AllFreeNovel
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“Incredible,” I say, and she swats at my shoulder. “Definitely makes your day interesting, huh?”
“It makes it something,” Lacey answers. “Part of the job.”
“I have a lot of respect for you all. I can’t handle when someone pukes after a workout,” I say. “I get queasy and sweaty. My hands turn clammy and I have to cover my ears.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have such strenuous workouts,” she argues, and I bark out a laugh.
“Touché, Daniels.”
Our eyes meet, and we stare at each other for a beat. Lacey tips her head to the side. My lips curl up in a challenge, wondering who will be the first to break today. We play this game sometimes, when there’s a moment of silence in the conversation or our friends are being nauseatingly sweet with each other and we’re trying not to gag.
I lift my eyebrows and she sticks out her tongue, surprising me enough for a laugh to burst free from my chest. It’s loud and it’s sharp, and red flares to life on her cheeks with the sound.
“Where’s Maggie?” Lacey asks. She curls her hand around her beer bottle and brings it to her mouth. I watch her take a sip before looking away.
“She’ll be up any second,” Aiden says. He grabs a long-stemmed glass from the cabinet and pours a generous serving of red wine in anticipation of his other half’s arrival.
On cue, the door to the apartment opens and Maggie walks inside. Her arms are weighed down by a dozen shopping bags, and she leaves snow-covered footprints on the floor.
“Traffic ishorrible,” she says. “I thought I would get ahead of the holiday rush and do some Christmas shopping after dropping Maven off, but everyone’s lost their damn minds with this early season snowstorm. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. You all should have started without me.”
“Hey, sweetheart,” Aiden says. He takes the bags from her left arm and sets them on the floor, exchanging them with a glass of wine. He pulls her into a kiss, his fingers tugging at the belt loops of her jeans and a smile pressing against her mouth.
“Yuck,” Lacey calls out. “Get a room, you two.”
“Not in front of the children,” I say, and I cover her eyes.
Lacey tilts her head back and laughs, and it’s such a bright sound. It might be below freezing outside, but her laugh is warm. Inviting. Sunshine in human form, and one of my favorite noises.
She doesn’t care that it’s loud, or that a snort likes to slip through when she’s cackling at something really,reallyfunny. It’s expressive. Bold and vivacious, just like her. A giantfuck youto anyone who’s ever told her she needs to tone it down, because Lacey laughs like she does everything else in life: without a care in the goddamn world.
I like that about her.
“To be fair, it’s no worse than that singer you were canoodling three months ago,” Lacey says, and I roll my eyes.
“I wasn’t canoodling anyone. Our agents thought it would be a good idea for some publicity since she had an album coming out and the football season was starting,” I say.
Lacey folds her hands over mine, and she moves my palms away from her face. “Still. Watching you stick your tongue down someone’s throat is on the list of things I really don’t enjoy seeing.”
“Jealous, Daniels?” I joke, and it’s her turn to roll her eyes. “Who are you canoodling these days?”
“I’m bringing a date to your game next week, believe it or not,” she says smugly.
She sits up on the barstool and crosses her arms over her chest. My smile slips at the edges. Burns out around the corners of my mouth, and I glance at her.
“What?” Maggie shrieks. She sprints across the room and nudges me to the side. “Adate?When were you going to tell me?”
“Okay, calm down. I’m not marrying the guy. We matched on an app that I decided to re-download three nights ago when I was drinking wine in the bathtub,” Lacey says. She takes another slow sip of her beer, and her tongue darts out to lick away a drop of alcohol she leaves behind. Some of her bravado wavers, and she waits for a long pause before speaking again. “He’s nice.”
“Nice?” I scoff.
She narrows her eyes, and a challenge flares in her gaze. “Yeah,” she says. “Nice. Is that a problem?”
“No. I just think you should be aiming higher than nice,” I say. “Mr. Rogers was nice. Do you really want the guy you’re sleeping with to be like Mr. Rogers?”
She hums and sets down her drink. Runs her hand through her hair and twirls the ends around her fingers. “I’m weird about meeting people for the first time, so I mentioned the game next week when we’re back down by the field in our usual spot. He said it sounded fun. It gives us a buffer in case we don’t have anything to talk about.”
I squint and try to tell if she’s lying. As far as I know, Lacey doesn’t date. Her job at the pediatrician’s office in downtown D.C. takes up most of her time. She barely gives herself room to breathe, working from seven to six then spending the other free hours with her friends.
