AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Did you clean all day?” I ask.
She rolls her head to me slowly, her eyes puffy and still fairly red.
“God no.” She leans forward, picks up a water bottle and guzzles down half of it.
I know Matt didn’t do this. I’ve been to enough of his parties to know that cleanup is not his forte. He’s more of a “vibe man,” or so he says. The only other answer is Cutter. I wish I had been in a better state of mind this morning to have noticed for certain, but I’m pretty sure I woke up to a clean house. Which means he took care of things while I was sleeping.
“I’m starving,” Ivy announces, and my stomach literally growls in response.
“Oh thank God. Burgers at Patty’s? There’s no way I’m cooking,” I say. Ivy nods and gets to her feet, offering me a hand up from the couch. At this point, I should probably be helping her, but I take her hand and snag her keys from the coffee table as we head out.
It’s definitely a non-alcohol night for me, and Ivy seems game too. We both order two waters and Cokes because sometimes carbonated caffeine just hits the spot.
It’s a Monday, so Patty’s isn’t very crowded, which means our food comes out fast. The two of us scarf down half a burger in record time, and I’m working on shoveling a mouthful of what I’ve got left when Patty’s doors swing open with a gush of cold air and about a dozen Tiff hockey players.
“Was there a game tonight?” Ivy asks.
I shrug while I chew, acutely aware of my chipmunk cheeks and the fact that Cutter has spotted me and is coming over to our table. I hurry up and swallow, chasing it with a gulp of water that makes everything sort of clump in my esophagus. I start to cough and Cutter rushes behind me and starts patting my back. Thankfully, the bite goes down before he has to administer the Heimlich.
“You really like to bite off more than you can chew, don’t you?” he teases.
I scowl at him.
“Good to see the old Laney back,” he adds before dragging a stool out and taking a seat with us. He parks himself on the other side of the table, and I find myself a little disappointed that he’s not closer to me. And that he thinks the old Laney is nothing but grumpy and mean.Shit, am I?
“Did you clean the house?” Ivy points at him, talking with a full mouth.
Cutter leans back on his stool and gives us both a closed-lipped smile, his eyes shifting between us.
“Dude, I’m not mad about it. I was going to thank you, but if you’re going to be all coy about it and shit. Fuck off.” Ivy dives right back into her burger and Cutter’s gaze drifts to me as he laughs.
Well, I’m not that grumpy.
My eyes narrow on him while my friend ravages what’s left of her dinner.
“When did you even do that?” I’m not sure how aware Ivy is of my night and the fact that Cutter pulled me out of the party scene and locked me in our room. She was a little distracted making out with one of his teammates, from best I recall.
Cutter shrugs one shoulder and smiles on the same side. I hold his gaze while I do some quick yet messy math. I’m pretty sure he was in the room with me until I fell asleep around ten or eleven, and the party was still going then. We got up at five. So the odds that he slept any, if at all, are slim.
“Right, well. I’m gonna order some food. We had a scrimmage and I skipped lunch, so . . .” He stands and clutches his stomach before letting out a corny, “rawr.”
“No fish fry! You’ll stink.” I point at him as he backs away.
He makes anaww-shuckskind of face and snaps his fingers then spins around to head to the bar. I pick at what’s left of my burger, my brain finally catching up with my stomach and that famished feeling shifting over to the side of stuffed stupid. I swirl a fry in the cup of ranch I snagged from the salad bar then push my plate toward my friend.
“Rest are yours if you want ’em.”
“God yes,” Ivy says, scooting my ranch closer as well. She dunks a few fries into the dressing at once and stuffs them in her mouth, propping her head on her fist as she stares at me with a quizzical look. She takes another bite the same way, all the while staring, and I start to feel the heat of it.
“What?” I squirm in my seat and shimmy my arms out of the flannel shirt I put on. I roll it into a ball and set it on the table by my wallet and phone. I’m suddenly hot, and I’m not sure if it’s the growing crowd in Patty’s or my friend’s interrogating stare.
“He likes you a lot. You see that, right?” Ivy points from Cutter to me with the end of a fry before popping it in her mouth. Her frankness is sometimes exhausting.
“He tolerates me. And we definitely have chemistry, but that’s it.” I don’t fully believe the words I’m saying, but also, I don’t want to open up this enigma right now. I’m still mentally debating whether or not to reply to the text my mom sent a few minutes ago. My words must have really cut her this time because it’s unlike her to say sorry. But that’s literally all she said this time. One word.Sorry.
I keep subtle tabs on Cutter’s movement, following him with my gaze after he places his order then takes a pitcher to the back table where some of his teammates have settled in near the pool tables. Our eyes meet a few times, and whenever Cutter gets caught, a faint but sexy smile tugs at the corner of his lip.
“You’re not freezing?” Ivy redirects my attention, pointing at my bare shoulders. I’m wearing a white tank top and jeans, but now that I look around the joint I realize that most people are in sweatshirts and jackets.
