Chapter Seven
“SMILE!”
Sammie groaned. She tugged her hair back, yanking the tie off her wrist. Kai only raised a brow, sitting across from her at the small table tucked into a corner of the brewery. Ivy was leaning in, holding her phone in the air, front-facing camera reflecting all their faces back.
“No, no!” Ivy smacked Sammie’s hands away from her hair. “Leave it down for the picture!”
“It’s hot.” Sammie stared as she continued to tie her hair back. “Just leave me out of it.”
“No.” Ivy frowned. “We’re day-drinking with a C-list celebrity, we must document and share it with the masses.”
Kai’s brows pinched together. “C-list?”
Ivy waved him off, holding her phone high once more and clicking a picture of the three of them.
It had become a habit, meeting up for drinks, just the three of them, once a month when Kai had therapy two blocks away from the brewery.
A little friend unit that Sammie hadn’t anticipated, formed over the course of the season as they sat together on the sidelines close to where Ivy always posted up with her clipboard.
“You really are frowning.” Kai smirked as Ivy let them see the picture.
“It’s hot!” Sammie threw her hands up. She’d gotten in as early as she could that morning, along with Luz, and they’d been able to finish their brew before the worst of the heat.
Even still, the brewhouse was hot as fuck in the summer, and Sammie could still feel salt dried on her skin. Anyone would frown about that, right?
Kai ignored her, in much the same way he tended to brush past her brother’s outbursts.
He looked at his own phone when it buzzed with a notification from Ivy tagging him in her post. Sammie could see why her brother had fallen head over heels the night he’d met Kai.
The streamer was gorgeous, an ethereal air about him that constantly clashed with his bored, no-bullshit personality.
He shared Ivy’s post, but continued to look at something on his phone that was pinching his brows together once more.
“You good?” Sammie stared until his attention finally flicked up toward her.
“I’m fine.” A pause, made heavier by Ivy’s attention now locked on him too. “Atticus asked me to move in with him.”
Both women blinked.
“Wow.” Ivy leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms loosely. “That’s fast.”
Kai nodded, still staring at something on his phone. From where Sammie sat, it looked like a selfie, her brother and his she-demon of a kitten.
“Nobody loves harder than Attie does.” Sammie wouldn’t sway Kai one way or another, even if she knew what would make her brother happier than anything.
“I know.” Kai clicked his phone off, setting it down on the table. “He’s not the issue.”
Sammie felt a fist around her heart. She knew what it felt like to be the one standing in your own way. “He’ll wait. Long as you need him to.”
Kai took a drink of his seltzer—both of Sammie’s friends were, unfortunately, not beer drinkers—and gave her a small, soft smile. “I’ll give him an answer soon.”
“Sappy.” Ivy smacked a palm on the table top. “So sappy. It’s disgusting, I hate you, and I’m happy for you. Atticus has been less of a pain at work since you came into his life. However.” Another palm slap. “We need to talk about this weekend.”
Sammie’s breath caught in her throat. Had Ivy found out about her planned trip back home with Kieran?
Kai grinned. “I’ve got it pre-downloaded.”
Wait, what?
“What’s this weekend?” Both sets of eyes turned toward Sammie.
“I forgot,” Ivy said, patting her on the back. “You’re boring. The new season of Apocalypse is dropping.”
She recognized the name of the game. A post-apocalyptic MMO that she’d heard her friends and brother talk about from time to time. Sammie wasn’t a gamer, and really only played socially, but Ivy and Kai had bonded quickly over their love of video games.
“Kai,” Ivy said seriously. “Let us crash at your place for the weekend. I’ll bring my console, it’ll be like the old days of LAN parties and Game Fuel.” She turned to Sammie. “You come, too, and get some dedicated reading time in. It’ll be fun!”
Sammie took a generous sip from her witbier, the crisp flavor refreshing after a long day spent in the heat.
“I’m going down to the house this weekend,” she said.
Ivy clearly didn’t know, and after the seed Kai had planted in Sammie’s mind, she really didn’t want her friend to find out from someone else. “With Kieran.”
Both her friends stared at her for a too-long moment. Apparently Atticus hadn’t told Kai yet. Unusual, since Sammie had learned very quickly that Atticus was as bad at keeping secrets from Kai as he was with her.
“This feels like information that was pertinent before now,” Kai said slowly. Ivy laughed, but it was a small sound, and rang false in Sammie’s ears. A tiny knot began to form in her chest.
“He’s just helping out with some repairs,” she said quickly, hiding behind another gulp of her beer. Kai glanced between her and Ivy, who was suddenly very interested in something on her phone. Another raised brow, and Sammie answered with a small shake of her head.
She still hadn’t told Ivy what she’d learned about Kieran. About the fact that it was his account that Ivy had found, about her conversation with him at the diner. About what they were planning to do together.
Sammie had been doing her best not to think about it. Not any more than she had to. She’d already made the lists Kieran had asked for. Now, all she could do was wait for Wednesday to roll around, and dwelling on what that day would bring did nothing but make her more nervous than she already was.
“It’s good that he can help you.” Ivy finally looked up from her phone, meeting Sammie gaze with a smile. “I’d offer, but I know fuck all about home repairs.” She rose from their little table, excusing herself to go to the restroom.
“I’m going to make videos with Kieran.” The words spilled from Sammie the moment Ivy was out of earshot. Kai’s eyes went round and his mouth fell open, only for him to pull his phone back out.
“I need to unsubscribe,” he mumbled, tapping furiously on his screen. “Oh my god.” He looked back up at her. “Oh my god. Have you told Attie?”
Sammie shook her head. “No, I’m telling you so you can tell him and I don’t have to.” She could feel heat licking up her neck, searing her cheeks. She kept an eye on the bathroom, wanting to end this part of their conversation before Ivy rejoined them.
“That’s a big deal, Sammie.” Kai stare turned cautious, his eyes narrowed as he studied her. “Are you sure it’s a good idea?”
Sammie had never actually talked to Kai about her feelings for Kieran, but by now he knew enough about her history, considering Atticus never knew when to shut the fuck up.
“The money’s good.” Sammie kept her voice low.
“And…” And what? It was strange, trying to find the words, trying to say what she was feeling in a way someone else could understand.
“And I think this could be good for me. In a lot of ways.” A chance to express herself in a new way, unguarded but still unknown.
Never mind what remained of her teenage crush on Kieran.
Sammie really did want to do this for herself, it just so happened that the person she was doing it with was someone she also happened to have a thing for.
Kai watched her, searching her face for something. Whatever he saw there must have been enough to assuage his worries, because he nodded slowly. “I’ll tell Attie for you. He won’t let you live this one down. You know that, right?”
Sammie blew out a long breath through her nose. “Yep. Thinking about blocking his number for the next seven to ten business days.”
“He’ll just show up at your door to say it all to your face.”
Kai was right. Whatever roasting she was about to get from her twin, it was a sure thing, as unavoidable as the sun rising in the east.
“Did I miss anything good?” Ivy plopped back into her seat, startling Sammie.
“Just telling him more about the repairs that need to happen,” Sammie said quickly. Kai schooled his features, the shock over what Sammie had confided disappearing in an instant.
“Well, I may not know how most tools work, but if you need more help, let me know.”
Ivy’s words were sincere, and the gentle way she was looking at Sammie squeezed a fist around her lungs. Ivy was good. Kind. She was fun and silly. She had proven herself to be someone who cared, who would always be there when Sammie needed her.
And yet, Sammie couldn’t bring herself to tell Ivy about Kieran. Because what if she hurt her? Sammie hated herself just the smallest bit for it.
“Me and Attie can help too, once the season’s over. Put his muscles to use.” Kai pushed his long, pink-tipped hair back behind one ear, his many gold piercings on full display as he rose from his seat. “I’ve gotta go. Therapy time.”
Quick goodbyes were exchanged, and Kai left the two women sitting in the booth, side by side, half full drinks sweating pools of condensation on the table before them.
“So,” Ivy began, voice quieter. “You’re driving down there with Kieran?”
Sammie nodded again. “He messaged me today, said his parents want me to have dinner with them.”
Ivy chuckled. “You don’t really get a ‘meet the parents’ moment with them, do you? Must be easier that way.”
Was it easier, already knowing Grant and Meredith? Maybe, just a bit. She knew they were good people and loved them like they were family. They’d always been kind to her and Atticus, and had been some of her granny’s closest friends.
“It’s not like that,” Sammie said, shaking her head. “They’re just helping out with the house. Having a meal with them is the least I can do.”
“Oh.” Ivy’s eyes flicking back to her phone screen. “Sure.”
It was as if Ivy knew, as if she picked up on the fact that Sammie wasn’t telling her something.
A change in the air between them, stiff and unyielding.
They’d never had trouble talking about things before.
Sammie had never hidden anything from Ivy.
But it just felt so wrong to bring up the stuff with Kieran.
If Kai was right, if Ivy did have feelings for Sammie, wouldn’t that just be rubbing her face in it all?
And besides, Kieran had said he didn’t want people to know about his online persona. It wasn’t Sammie’s place to tell anyone else, right?
“Did you ever talk to that player from Louisville?” Sammie bumped Ivy’s shoulder, pulling her attention back.
Another small laugh. “Haven’t worked up the courage yet.” The smile Ivy gave her was more genuine, the bright kind of smile that had always made Sammie feel so at ease around her. “What do I say? ‘We met at that training conference and I’ve been cyber stalking you ever since?’”
“That’s one way of doing it,” Sammie laughed. “Sounds like one of my brother’s lines, actually.”
Ivy made a face, scrunching her nose up as she twirled a piece of hair from her messy ponytail. “Probably not the right way to go then.” A pause as she finished off her seltzer, followed by a defeated sigh. “I don’t know, feels weird to just roll into her DMs. I don’t even really know her.”
And suddenly, Sammie wanted to tell her.
Wanted to lay it all out, from the messages she’d sent Kieran to the conversation they’d had in the diner to what they were going to do together later that week.
The things she was quietly—so quiet she could hardly hear the voice in her own mind—hoping it would all lead to.
Talking to her brother, to Kai… they were great.
But they weren’t Ivy. They weren’t her best friend.
Instead, she gave into the fear gently roiling in her gut and shrugged, giving Ivy another shoulder bump. “What’s the worst that could happen? She blocks you? Then you’ll know and you can move on to someone who sees what a fucking catch you are.”
And maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say, because when Ivy met her gaze again, Sammie swore she saw a sparkling hope there that made that knot in her chest pull even tighter.