“No.” She grabs my arm, keeping me here. “You can’t leave in the middle. That will look bad. Besides, I think my family likes you.”
“I like them.”
Her lips crease into a small smile, and she drops my arm. “You don’t have to say that. I know we’re a lot.”
“What’s wrong with a lot?”
“Nothing, I guess.” Her fingers comb through her hair, and my eyes fixate on the bright-red polish that shines over each nail. I’m transfixed as she tousles the roots, flipping half her hair over to the other side. That’s how she creates that wave thing from the picture earlier.
“Why did you agree to come for Justin anyway?”
“Uh…” I shift my eyes back to her face. “I owed him for a passport thing last year, and I’m staying at his house for free for the next month, so I figured I could help him out.” Plus, I’m extending an olive branch, a goodwill gesture that will hopefully bring us closer together this holiday season, but Summer doesn’t get to be privy to that information.
“Oh.” She nods a few times while she thinks of the next thing she’s going to say. “I feel like we’re onWho’s Line is it Anyway?Do you remember that TV show? We have to improv and think on our feet. It’s kind of a rush. I seriously think I missed my calling in life. Who knew all these years I was a pro at acting? I should’ve been in drama class and plays. It’s a missed opportunity.”
“You think you’re a pro? I just spouted off blanket facts like I own the place.”
“Your blanket ramblings were a definite low point in the conversation.”
“What? How can you say that? I thought I really nailed it.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “They won’t be hiring you forWho’s Line is it Anyway?any time soon.”
Summer’s family members aren’t the only crazy ones. She’s got some crazy in her too.
Her brows pinch together. “What?”
I shrug, not sure what she means.
She points to my mouth. “Why are you smiling at me like that?”
I didn’t even know I was smiling.
“I’m not smiling.” Somehow, my smile grows even bigger.
She covers her mouth with her hand. “I have something in my teeth, don’t I?”
“No.” I laugh. “You look great.” She looks a little more than great, but she’s not my girlfriend, so I’m stopping the compliment right there. “Besides, if you had something in your teeth, do you really think I would have a whole conversation with you and not say something about it?”
“I would.”
“No, you wouldn’t. You’d tell me.”
“Never.” She shakes her head. “I’d look you right in the face for two hours without saying something. Then I’d make you go home and discover the green leaf in between your front teeth hours later and wonder how long it had been there.”
“That’s just cruel.”
“What can I say?” She stretches one arm across her chest, then swings her limbs, repeating the stretch on the other side. “I’m a cruel person.” She twists her neck from side to side, then rolls it around in a complete circle. “So there are a few things about tonight you need to know. My dad is going to put the gizzard in his mouth and pose for a picture.”
“Like the turkey’s gizzard?” I tilt my head, watching her stretch on the other side.
“Yes, and then we’ll hold all the grandbabies in the air with the turkey and take a picture.”
“That sounds cute.”
“It is cute.” She pulls her arm behind her head, holding it at her elbow. “And then my dad will spank the turkey a few times—the grandkids love it.”
“Spank the turkey?” My smile turns naughty. “That sounds kinky.”
