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“I suppose I won’t argue with that. You can grab a twenty from my wallet.”
Parker got up and pulled her cover-up over her head. Erin and Cassie stayed put.
“We need anything other than buns?”
“Sweet tea,” Cassie said.
“Pretty sure they don’t sell the good stuff in New Hampshire, babe,” Parker said.
“Ugh. This state is useless.”
Erin pushed at Cassie’s chair with her bare foot. “I’ll see if I can’t scrounge up some homemade stuff for the next time you come.”
“Parker, your mom is better than you. She offers solutions.”
Erin didn’t have to look at Parker to know she was rolling her eyes.
“Text if you need anything,” Parker said, and left.
It was like Pavlov’s dog. The moment she was alone with Cassie, Erin was ready. Cassie, on the other hand, stayed completely still. She didn’t even turn her head. Parker’s car started on the other side of the house. The tires crunched down the driveway.
Then Cassie was up, pulling Erin out of her chair.
“Thank God,” she said, slipping her hands around Erin’s bare waist. “Were you trying to torture me all day?”
Erin laughed and let Cassie’s hands wander. “What do you mean?”
“You’re in a bikini, Erin.” Cassie dropped a kiss on her shoulder. “I thought I would never get to touch you.”
“You touched me this morning.”
“And then you came out here in a bikini and I wanted to touch you again.” She was already tugging at the knot in Erin’s halter top.
“The store isn’t very far away,” Erin said.
“Better get you out of this quick, then.”
She didn’t really get Erin out of the suit, just untied the top and then got her hand inside the bottom. It was indeed quick—Erin was already wet; she’d been thinking about this just as much as Cassie.
Parker took a long time at the store. Cassie and Erin changed out of their suits and had the burgers on the grill by the time she got back.
Cassie never came up weekends when Parker was at Adam’s. Erin worried that was too obvious, but then again, Adam didn’t have a pool. Even when Parker was supposed to be at her father’s, she spent plenty of time in Erin’s backyard instead. The benefits of keeping the house with a pool. One day after Parker had left for Adam’s, Erin dangled her legs in the pool and texted Cassie.
Erin [Today 3:23 PM]
I’m in Boston for work. You free tonight? I could stick around for dinner maybe?
They’d met for dinner when Erin was in town before, but she didn’t go to the city as often as she wanted to see Cassie. It was easier to lie than to sayI miss you. I want to see you.Easier to give Cassie an out that wouldn’t feel as much like a rejection. Cassie was always free, though.
It was almost the end of June before Cassie came up for a weekend at the same time Rachel was over. As soon as Rachel laid eyes on Cassie, Erin knew it was a mistake. She had lasted this long without introducing them, and she should’ve kept it up. Rachel had no tells—nothing specific that Erin could point to, but sheknew.
Rachel didn’t say anything, though. Not right then, and not later, when Parker announced they were going swimming, then wrappedher hand around Cassie’s wrist and tugged. Cassie threw a smile over her shoulder at Erin as Parker dragged her outside. Erin bit her lip instead of smiling back, turned back to Rachel once the door closed behind the girls.
Rachel’s head was tilted, and Erin steeled herself for whatever smart-ass thing would come out of her mouth, but she launched into stories about her trip to Greece instead. Erin listened, and laughed, and relaxed.
Over the next half hour, Rachel shared every detail about her favorite meals, activities, hotels, and bartenders in Greece and Erin eventually forgot to worry about it, so of course that was when Rachel tilted her head again and said, “So this is why you didn’t tell me?”
Erin tried not to go stiff. “What?”
