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“I always thought you were so beautiful, you know. I felt so plain next to you.” Molly had always been “the hot one,” or she would have been the hot one if she’d stayed and we’d gone to high school together.
“Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we’d stayed friends? If I’d stayed here? Or if we might have drifted apart anyway?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, plucking a blade of grass. “There really is no way to know, but we’re here now.”
“True. I guess dwelling on the past doesn’t do anyone much good.” She sighed and closed her eyes. I took my moment to roll on top of her and kiss her.
“Hey,” she said into my mouth, her eyes popping open.
“It’s just kissing.” I brushed my nose against hers and then took her bottom lip between my teeth.
“Nothing with you is ‘just’,” she said. Ditto.
I was freaking out last night about how fast things were moving, but it seemed less scary today. Maybe it was the sunshine. Maybe it was sleeping with her arms around me. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I knew, without a doubt, that I wanted whatever this was with her.
I’d been staring down at her.
“What are you thinking about in that brain of yours?” she said, brushing some of my hair out of our faces. I should have put it up so it would stop getting in the way.
“You,” I said. “Just being with you.” Her smile was brilliant.
“You’re sweet. And sexy. And funny. And lovely. And . . .” I stopped her with a kiss. It was just too much.
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After our playground adventures, we decided that we were hungry, so we headed back to my house for lunch.
“You have better bread there,” Molly said when I asked her if she wanted to go out to eat. I couldn’t argue with her there, so we went back to my house.
“This place is so cozy,” she said as I walked to the kitchen and started messing around in the fridge.
“Thanks. I mean, it’s definitely cozier than yours. No offense.”
“None taken.” She flopped on the couch and sighed. The chairs were still out from making the blanket fort. Had that really been just last night? We’d covered so much ground in such a short time. But sometimes life was like that, I guess. Sometimes things happened so fast you just had to hold on and enjoy the moment.
I wasn’t really good at doing that, historically. But the way Molly looked at me was something special. Something to treasure.
“Do you need any help?” she asked, but I waved her off. I liked feeding people. It was kind of my thing. My main contribution to the world. So I made up a tray with turkey, avocado, tomato, and basil-mayo sandwiches on my favorite sourdough bread, as well as some potato chips and a few clementines. And because no meal was complete without dessert, I added two slices of Italian cream cake.
“You want some iced tea?” I asked. She nodded and I made up two glasses, topping them off with lemon slices and fresh mint.
“You’re so good to me,” she said.
“I feed people. It’s my thing. I’d probably be smaller if I ate less, but who wants to do that?” I said.
“I’ll cheers to that.” She raised her glass and clinked it with mine.
My phone buzzed and I looked down. Mom. If I didn’t pick up, she’d leave a long ass message and just call me incessantly until I picked up. She was fun like that.
“Hey, Mom,” I said.
“Hey, Daisy Grace!” My mom was one of those people who was disgustingly cheerful for no apparent reason. “How are you doing?” she asked and I could hear her fluttering around the house. She could never sit still either. Sometimes she even talked to me on speakerphone when she was doing the dishes.
“I’m good. How are you?” We had to go through the little routine before she would tell me why she was calling. There was always a reason, but sometimes it took longer to figure it out than others.
Molly just sat and ate her sandwich. If Mom knew she was here, she’d die. My mom loved Molly to pieces. Probably more than she loved me.
“Oh, I’m fine. What are you up to today?” It wouldn’t matter if I was at work. I’d still be having this exact conversation.
