AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Did what?” Ziggy asks, her voice so quiet, they all lean in, cuing her to repeat herself. This time she’s a little louder than she normally would be. With the music’s volume and other people’s conversational sound to contend with, no one makes anything of it.
I just stand there, fighting a smile.
Because as I stare at her I see that moment in my parked car all over again, those earplugs wedged in her ears as she explained their purpose in this adorable half-whisper, and that hard, cold place inside me melted and ached and wanted in a way it hasn’t in so long.
“Seb just recited Shakespeare,” Ren tells her, not loud enough, given she has earplugs in, but she seems content to read his lips and lean in, eyes narrowed as she concentrates.
Her eyes widen, then she turns to me, her mouth parted. “You said it without me? I missed it!” She grabs my arm and shakes it a little. “You stinker.”
I fight another smile, inordinately pleased that she cares. That she’s touching me, even if shit, is her grip rough, almost painful. “I’ll throw a line your way at some point,” I tell her. “Promise.”
She gives me a narrow-eyed glare. “Hmph.”
I hook my finger on her roller skates’ laces, then lift them from her hands. “Come on. Let’s get you ready to race.”
15
ZIGGY
Playlist: “Meadows,” Wild Child
Sebastian’s been gone for a while. I scan Tyler’s gorgeous three-story great room, with its floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and frown. I still don’t see him.
“One more selfie.” Tyler’s girlfriend, Sofie, takes our photo and, with my permission, posts it to Instagram. A fellow professional athlete, she plays for New York’s women’s soccer team. We’ve spent the whole after-party talking about making this your career, about her and Tyler’s long-distance relationship, my hope for building some brand partnerships, all while tucked in a quiet corner away from the rowdier bunch at the other end of the great room. I think I just might have made a new friend.
“Ziggy.” Sebastian steps up to me, then nods Sofie’s way. “Hey, Sof.”
She smiles. “Hey, Seb.”
He rakes a hand through his hair. “We should go.”
I frown, confused. “Everything okay?”
He shrugs. “It’s late.”
I peer down at my phone. He’s not wrong. “Okay.” Turning to Sofie, I hug her goodnight and exchange numbers, then let Sebastian more or less drag me out of the room, barely letting me wave goodbye to anyone.
“I can’t drive,” I tell him as we turn the corner into the hallway. “I’m not drunk, but I did drink a cocktail just now pretty quickly, and I’m not sober, either.”
“I can drive,” he says. “I haven’t had a drink the whole night.”
“But your foot—”
“It’s fine.”
I point to the boot. “It is definitely not fine.”
“It is. I’ll take off the boot—I just had it on to protect my foot from the crowd. It’s more than fine enough to drive.”
“Then why have I been driving you around, Miss Daisy?”
He takes me by the hand and tugs me with him down the hallway. “Because Frankie would castrate me for being behind the wheel any more than strictly necessary, but more so because you seemed to like driving the Cayenne.”
“Well, you misread that one, big-time. I’m a white-knuckled driver.”
Sebastian frowns at me as we walk to his car. “That’s why you drive so slow?”
“I don’t drive slow. I drive cautiously.”
