Page 16 of See You Next Tuesday

“Sounds like Simone’s here,” he said to Kira.

“Cool.” Kira nodded. She’d been napping too.

Gabe turned to see two girls walking out of the house. Simone looked exactly as he remembered her: tall and curvy with a cool affect and skinny braids pulled into a high ponytail, wearing a striped nautical one-piece that popped against her dark skin. Her friend was really sexy, on the shorter side with pale creamy skin and a bright red bikini that she wore under a faded button-down shirt. She wore big tortoiseshell sunglasses, and her dark curly hair fell around her face in ringlets—

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“Gabe.” Anya’s tone was terse. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Me neither,” Gabe replied, sounding nonchalant. It was hard for Anya to read his expression behind his dark Ray-Bans, but it was impossible not to notice that he looked like a male model lounging by the pool in sky-blue trunks that perfectly complemented his bronzed skin. (He was already tan? How?! Hadn’t they all just been on campaigns?) Of course this was happening. Of course he was sipping a Modelo, acting completely unbothered by Anya’s presence. Two could play at that game. Anya flashed a bright smile at Gabe and his friend, who was gorgeous too, androgynous with amazing hair and a sporty black bikini with a racerback top and boy shorts.

“You guys have met?” Gabe’s friend asked.

“Anya and Gabe worked together in Ohio last cycle,” Simone explained.

“But only briefly.” Anya waved her hand breezily. “We hardly know each other.”

“That’s cool.” Gabe’s friend got up and approached them. “I’m Kira, by the way.”

“Kira. Hi.” Simone gave Kira a dazzling smile. “I’m Simone.”

“The famous Simone arrives at last.” Kira cracked the smallest grin.

“Famous?” Simone cocked her head. “What have you heard about me?”

“Nothing.” Kira’s expression was stoic. “Which is a crime, because I want to know everything.”

Simone giggled coyly, and Anya bit back a grin. Despite Anya’s current internal freak-out that Gabe was here, it was a delight to see her normally in-control friend get all flustered as this extremely hot person flirted with her.

Kira turned to Anya. “You guys came in from Colorado, right?”

“Yeah.” Anya nodded. “We worked together on the employment nondiscrimination ballot measure.”

“Oh, right on!” Kira broke into a huge smile. “You won, that’s such a big deal.”

“Thanks.” Anya felt a swell of pride. “What race were you on?”

“The presidential.” Kira gave a little shrug, which Anya took as either an apology (I know our candidate sucked ) or a humblebrag (Heard of it?). “In Florida.”

“Wow.” Simone’s eyes went wide. “You flipped Florida?”

“Nah, the voters did that.” Kira ran a hand through their hair. “We just helped a little.”

Humblebrag, Anya thought. Definitely humblebrag.

“You guys must be exhausted, flying all that way,” Kira went on. “Do you want to come sit with us? You need drinks, and I make an excellent margarita.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Simone teased. “Is it too soon to ask you to show me your secret recipe?”

“Much.” Kira looked dead at Simone. “But let’s go in the kitchen and see what happens.”

Simone happily followed Kira back to the house, leaving Anya and Gabe alone with absolutely nothing to say to each other. With his sunglasses, Anya couldn’t tell if Gabe was looking at his phone or at her.

“Well.” She finally broke the silence, nodding toward a deck chair at the other end of the pool. “I’m gonna—”

“You don’t seem surprised I’m here,” Gabe broke in.

Anya shrugged. Was he accusing her of something? “I knew it was a possibility. Simone showed me a picture of the group, and I recognized you.”