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Erin blinked. What did that mean?
“You never told us who you were talking to that night,” Parker continued. “Maybe you’re the one who’s embarrassed.”
Erin didn’t know what Parker was talking about, but it didn’t seem good—the way Cassie’s eyes cut to Erin’s and away, as her throat worked to swallow her bite of pot roast.
“We did tell you. My secret lover is Acacia. We’ve been hiding our love for years.”
Parker leveled a look at Cassie. “I was with Acacia; you couldn’t have been talking to her. You were off by yourself drunk dialing someone else.”
Erin looked at her plate. Maybe she did know what they were talking about. She’d never deleted the texts from that night.
“Maybe I wasn’t dialing anyone,” Cassie said. She was studiously not looking at Erin. “Maybe Acacia and I were just sexting.”
Erin’s fork clattered against her plate.
“Shit. Sorry,” Cassie muttered. “The dinner table is probably not the best place to discuss sexting.”
Parker snickered, and Erin cleared her throat. Cassie could talk about sexting all she wanted—it was that she was actually talking about sextingErin. Sure, Parker didn’t know, but Erin did.
“Yes, well,” Erin said. “I’d still like to hear more about Sam.”
Parker heaved out a sigh. “I’d like to hear more about dessert, instead. Did you make pie?”
“I’m making two pies for Christmas Eve, Parker. You don’t need three pies in one week.”
“Says who?”
Erin had never been more glad to move on from a conversation.
On the whole, dinner was, embarrassingly, very much like the breakfast the three of them shared in Virginia. Erin tried to focus only on Parker, but not in any noticeable way. She worried both that she was paying Cassie too much attention and too obviously ignoring her. Parker seemed carefree—oblivious, if Erin wanted tobe rude about it, but she didn’t. She was grateful for Parker’s lack of suspicion.
Like at breakfast, they just had to get past the initial awkwardness—which was worse: playing footsie or getting too close to the truth about sexting?—and then it was smooth sailing. Cassie and Erin got along too well, even after everything.
As Erin went to clear the table, Cassie put a hand on her arm. Erin froze.
“What are you doing?” Cassie said. “You cooked. You don’t clean up.”
A smile spread slowly across Erin’s face. She looked at Parker instead of at the way Cassie’s cheeks went pink.
“You heard her, Parker,” Erin said. “Cleanup’s on you.”
She sat back down, lounging across her chair like she was getting the royal treatment.
“Why are you being so polite?” Parker asked Cassie. “You’re never like this at school.”
“I’m a good guest. You’re never this much of a baby at school. Being around your mom make you revert back to toddler behavior?”
Parker stuck her tongue out at Cassie, giggling halfway through it. Cassie laughed at her, and Erin’s heart did a little stutter step in her chest. This would all be easier if she didn’t like Cassie so much.
Seven
CASSIE
Cassie washed and Parker dried and Erin sat on a stool at the kitchen island, chatting away. Cassie was glad her back was to Erin. She couldn’t look at her.
Not because of anything in particular so much as because of… everything. Because Erin had made her feel awful. Because Erin was gorgeous. Because Cassie wanted to kiss her or fight her or maybe both.
It wouldn’t have been terrible to make Erin feel bad, the way Erin had made Cassie feel. Cassie was definitely that petty. But she was afraid it would prove Erin right—that Cassie was childish and had a crush on her.
