He slides me a grin. “Can you tell I’ve been hitting the sports therapy hard for the last couple of years?”
I open my mouth to tease him, but I’m interrupted by Rosie shrieking. “Mollie!”
I turn to see Mollie walking up. She drops Gordie’s leash and flings herself at Mollie, who grabs her, spins her around, and kisses her enthusiastically. “How is my favorite girl on the whole entire planet today?” she asks.
“Good.” Rosie shrieks with laughter as Mollie tickles her.
Oh, what the fuck? This was supposed to be a nice afternoon in the park with my best friend and my goddaughter, not with the number one most annoying Seattle Havoc employee.
My eyes dip down, taking Mollie in. She’s wearing a short lilac dress with tiny skeletons sprinkled all over it, oversized sunglasses, and yellow Converse sneakers. Her hair is a chaotic mess of copper curls that vergeson bedhead, and it complements her heart-shaped face and pouty pink mouth.
She has toned, athletic legs that are still so white they’re a bit hard to look at in the sunlight. Her left ankle has the faint pink web of scarring. I got her medical files eight months ago.
The trimalleolar fracture. The surgical notes. The projected recovery timeline. I've read her history so many times, I could recite it.
That isn’t the issue at hand, though. Currently, I can’t look anywhere but at the hem of her dress, which is so short that she’s just begging for a flashing incident. I scowl at her.
She completely ignores me and bounces Rosie on her hip, directing all her attention to my goddaughter. “How was your soccer game? Did you have fun?”
“Good! We ran all over the place! And Ms. Mary gave us orange slices after.”
“Whoa, that’s awesome. I bet you had fun getting all the wiggles out.”
“Yeah.” Rosie shrugs, a movement that is clearly learned from Beck. “My friends Kate and Ollie play, too. They’re my best friends.”
“What about Gordie?” Mollie asks. She tilts her head, drawing my attention to the slim column of her neck. She’s been getting some sun recently, because a few new freckles dapple the skin there.
Rosie looks at Gordie, then squirms in Mollie’s arms to be let down. “Gordie needs me.”
“I won’t argue with that, short stuff.” Mollie puts Rosie down, nearly flashing Beck and me as she bends.
Beck throws up a hand. “Jesus, Moll. You’re about to showcase the goods, if you get my drift. I’m sure Thorne doesn’t want to see that, either.”
Right now, with him standing here? It’s absolutely true. I’m not allowed to see her ass, so no one else should see it either.
“Ew.” Mollie pulls a face, running a hand over her butt. “Don’t talk about my ass. It’s gross. And Thorne can say something to me if he has a problem with a girl in a short dress.”
“Nope.” I repress a smirk and shake my head. “Not going there.”
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve ever said.”
Gordie barks and runs up to Mollie, shoving his head under her hand and lolling his tongue. She kneels, straight up flashing me her hot pink panties, leaving me slightly dazed as she pets my dog.
“Who’s the best member of the Thorne household?” she asks Gordie. “Is it you? I heard it’s you.”
My dog whines and rolls over for a chance at belly rubs. Traitor.
I fix my gaze on her shoes, since that seems the safest place for me to look. She has a pair of Converse sneakers in every color of the rainbow.
When she leans down and kisses Gordie’s snout, I feel something dark and bitter wash over me. She's laughing at something my dog just did, and it makes her whole face do the wonderful thing it does. Her cheeks flush, her nose wrinkles. Her lips curl up. She’s open and unguarded, and I track it like some kind of deranged archivist. Mollie has no idea that I've beencataloguing that particular expression of hers for a year.
“Gordie!” I call my dog before I realize I’m doing it. He snaps to attention, trotting over without a backward glance at Mollie.
She sticks her tongue out at me. “You are such a killjoy.”
I ruffle my dog’s fur. “Funny, usually people say I’m a delight. It must just be your charming personality that brings out my bad side.”
She checks that Rosie isn’t looking, then flips me the bird. I notice that her sparkly nail polish today is bright green. With the other colors she’s wearing, it’s slightly jarring.
