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??“Well, she speaks highly of you, and I know you two had a…” Alex paused as if searching for the word.
“Thing?”
“Exactly.” Alex laughed, holding her hands out for the ball and sinking it through the net with a satisfying swoop. She bounced it back, then shaded her eyes as she spoke. “I’m starting to realize I’m really into her. I just wanted to give you the heads-up. I know you two are still close, so I imagine you still care about her.”
Sam dribbled to center court and managed to keep the ball out of Alex’s reach just long enough to shoot and swish. She turned to Alex and smiled, tugging off her T-shirt and tossing it to the side of the court, leaving her in just a black Nike sports bra.
“I know she’s searching for something right now, for balance, maybe, so she’s vulnerable.” Sam held Alex’s gaze as the wind ran its fingers through the treetops behind them. “Can I trust you to guard her heart? Even if it doesn’t work out?”
“Of course.” Alex’s gaze was steady. “You have my word.”
Sam nodded. “That’s good enough for me. And I appreciate you letting me know. She’ll always be special to me, and she’s actually one of my wife’s closest friends.” She glanced up to the house, making sure Sara and Moxie hadn’t returned. “And on a different note, I have a question for you.”
The wide gold beams of afternoon sunlight fell over Alex like stage lights as she waited for Sam to continue.
“I know this is going to seem out of left field,” Sam said, swiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, “But do you ever get misgendered in everyday life?”
“Like, do people ever think I’m a man?”
“Yeah, I mean, if you don’t mind me asking.” Sam tilted her head to the side, looking Alex up and down. “You’ve got some serious shoulders and a good inch on me, and I’m almost six feet.”
“Oh yeah. Every damn day.” Alex laughed, placing the ball carefully back where she’d gotten it on the side of the court and tossing Sam her T-shirt. “Mary from the drugstore in town does it on purpose, I swear.”
Sam didn’t reply for a long moment, just looked Alex up and down. “So do you have plans tonight?”
??“Why?” Alex laughed, looking behind her for effect. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
“Yes, sir.” Sam laughed and pulled her shirt over her head, nodding for Alex to follow as she walked back up the path toward the house. “That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
* * *
Sam laughed and shook her head as she walked up the pine needle strewn path to the Other Place, McCall’s only real bar. She knew exactly what she’d find when she got there, and sure enough, Murphy was already at one of the patio tables with the cast-iron tabletop cauldrons, gleefully piling a handful of marshmallows onto a tiny roasting stick.
“Dude.” Sam rolled her eyes as she shrugged off her jean jacket and dropped it over the back of her chair. “I was hoping last time was just a one-off. Don’t tell me you brought your own…” Her voice trailed off as she took in the tiny mason jar of strawberry jam and silver spoon on the table. “What the hell is all this stuff?”
Murphy shot her a withering look as he pulled a handful of individually wrapped Reese’s peanut butter cups out of his jacket pocket and lined them up in a perfect row next to a stack of graham crackers. “I would tell you, but I know from experience, you don’t appreciate the finer things in life.”
Sam leaned back and laughed as she watched Murphy painstakingly drop a dollop of strawberry jam onto a cracker with a tiny silver spoon, top it with a Reese’s cup and a smoking hot marshmallow, then bookend his masterpiece with another graham cracker. He held it up and eyed it from every angle like a jeweler inspecting a diamond, then leaned back and dropped the entire square into his mouth with a look of pure bliss.
The server stopped by to get Sam’s order and shook her head as she watched; this was clearly not her first experience with Murphy the S’more Connoisseur.
Sam winked and whispered in her direction, “I’ll just have a Guinness. Also, I’ll be tipping big for both of us.”
She laughed, leaving them to it as Murphy’s little moans of pleasure slowly faded, and he brushed the crumbs from the front of his shirt.
Sam directed his attention to a tourist at a nearby table filming the entire episode. “Dude. You’re my brother-in-law, and I love you, but hanging out with you is putting a major dent in my street cred.” Sam grinned and put the cap back on the dainty jam jar. “I’m just sayin’.”
“Well.” Murphy smiled and winked at the tourist. “When I start to give a single shit about street cred, I’ll let you know.”
The server returned with Sam’s Guinness and the drink Murphy ordered: a frosty, pale pink cosmo in a martini glass. Sam shook her head and tried to stifle a laugh. “I swear to God, if you drink that thing with your pinkie in the air, I’m leaving.”
“Do what you gotta do, Chief. I’m secure in my masculinity.” Murphy sipped his cosmo with his little finger lofted as high as possible, leaning back in his chair with a
satisfied sigh. “Why did you want to meet tonight? Not that I’m complaining about getting out. Jennifer is in major nesting mode and is currently repainting the nursery for the third time. Apparently, the yellow she picked out last week is too ‘buttery.’”
“Yeah, good luck with that one, man. How’s Jen doing, by the way?”
“She’s great, other than the doctor telling her she needs to slow the hell down. But we only have a few weeks to go, thank God, so I think we might be in the clear at this point.” He leaned forward and dropped his voice. “Does this have anything to do with what we talked about at dinner…with Moxie?”
