When Mary Ann arrives an hour later, I rush to greet her in the driveway.
It’s easy to see that she’s slightly annoyed and confused, but I take the bakery bag from her arm and point at my roof. “Look.”
Instead, she gestures to the back of her car. “The only thing I could find at the supermarket were these giant sloth floaties that I had to inflate at the gas station. Had to tie one to the roof. Let this idiotic image burn through your brain.”
“Letthisnot-idiotic image burn through your brain.”
I point again, and when she looks up, it only takes her a second to process the fact that there are three guys on my roof, working and sweating and building even more muscle. Danny, Slowski, and Matteo are ripping tiles from the roof and looking all too damn hot.
“Yeah, okay. Shit. You made the right call,” she says more than a little breathlessly. “Help me with the sloths.”
“Yes!” I practically jump up and down. “Opportunity calls for you, girl! Look at your Slowski!”
“Subtlety!” She nudges me while her gaze still burns up the roof.
“Right. Of course.” Then, I eye what she’s wearing. “What is going on with this oversize hoodie and—wait? Are those men’s cargo shorts?”
“What? They’re comfy.”
I sigh. “So, I can assume there’s not a sexy bikini under that outfit?”
She unzips her sweatshirt and gives me a glimpse of her boxy one-piece.
Hiding my disappointment is not an option. “That’s something you’d wear to a swim meet.”
“So?”
“So? Listen, I don’t want to feed into a culture of sexualizing women for dumb dudes’ sake, and while these are damn good guys, it still wouldn’t hurt for you to play things up a bit. Until your guy sees you as a girl. As a possibility. Then, you can keep on keepin’ on with your hoodies.”
“Argh! But I suppose you’re right.” Mary Ann grabs my arm and rushes toward the front door before plopping down on the steps. “Okay, you are right. Because of all the stuff with my ex, I think I’ve been hiding my body. Hiding myself. Not wanting to attract attention, you know? I haven’t wanted to look or feel sexy.”
“I get that.”
“But Slowski? He makes me feel ready. Ready to be with somebody again. And maybe someone gentle and caring this time. God, he’s so sweet. A rare gentle, caring, kind guy, you know? They don’t come around all the time. Between my past and me being a tomboy to them?”
“You haven’t crossed his mind.”
“Right.”
“Doesn’t mean that can’t change.”
“Maybe,” she says.
“And I can almost guarantee that Danny hasn’t told him a thing about your ex. You know him. He’s a vault. And your best friend.” I yank her inside and toward the stairs. “Let’s give Slowski a wake-up call.”
It doesn’t take much digging through my pile of bathing suits to find Mary Ann a hot look, and while it’s not easy to look sexy or dignified while carrying oversize sloth floaties, we do our best as we cross the lawn.
“Careful on the dock. It’s a little wonky,” I warn.
“Warning appreciated.”
We each throw a sloth into the water and have a silent face-off about who is going to alert the boys that we’re here. Mary Ann nudges my ribs so hard that I nearly fall over, so I agree.
I’m in a printed cover-up over a black bikini, and Mary Ann has on a tiny sundress of mine over the strappy red push-up two-piece I put her in.
Oh God. This is so ridiculous. We should be better than this.
“Hey, guys!” I call out. “Phil!”
