Chapter 41
PETAL
We sit back in our chairs, our stomachs bulging from consuming a pint of ice cream each.
Lucy lets out a big belch.
“Damn, girl,” Gilly says. “If you don’t stop that you’ll have to find your own ride back to the city tonight.”
Lucy belches again for good measure.
“Thanks guys, for coming up,” I say. We didn’t accomplish anything more than making ourselves sick on ice cream, but sometimes that’s the best you can hope for.
My thoughts keep wandering back to Rake telling me he wants to have a go at things with me. I thought he was sincere.
I thought Andy was sincere too.
Goes to show how broken my bullshit radar is.
I’m tossing all the ice cream evidence back into Lucy’s bag, when there’s a knock on the front door.
We go still and look at each other, like we’re about to get in trouble, which we are not because I have a key and am allowed to be here. Especially if my friends buy books.
“Who is that?” Gilly whispers.
I look to the front of the store, where the lights are out. “I can’t see.”
“Maybe it’s a customer?” Lucy suggests.
“I don’t think so. All the locals know we close at eight p.m. Besides there’s a sign on the door that says closed.”
Only one way to find out. I march to the front of the store, ready to explain we open in the morning at ten. But I stop short.
Holy shit. It’s Rake.
And he’s so goddamn hot, wearing an untucked, totally wrinkled button-down and faded jeans. His red hair is a mess, like he took a shower and didn’t comb it before he hit the road.
I turn to my friends. “You guys. Rake’s here,” I hiss.
“Oh, let him in,” Gilly yells.
Thanks, Gilly.
I slowly turn the deadbolt. “Hi,” I say, opening the door only a crack.
When he realizes I’m not throwing the door open to invite him in, he sighs. “May I enter?”
I sigh equally loudly. “How’d you know to find me here?”
“You weren’t at the cottage, so I came over here and saw your car.”
“Smart. Very smart. My friends are here,” I say, leading him to the back of the store.
“Guys, this is Rake. Rake, these are my friends Lucy and Gilly. They came up to… visit.”
Gilly jumps to her feet and extends a hand. “Hi Rake, it’s so great to finally meet you in person, and I hope we see more of you, and maybe I’ll be lucky enough to come to another game sometime with Petal? I really enjoyed the one a couple weeks ago,” she says all in one breath.
Polite amusement crosses Rake’s face. “It would be great to have you back.”
I cross my arms. “What Gilly’s really saying is that she wants to know if you have any single friends. Like guys from the team.”
Rake smiles, and damn him, he’s so fucking good looking. “We’ve got some single guys. Let’s see what we can make happen,” he says, rubbing his hands together.
Gilly jumps up and down a little in her boots.
He turns to Lucy, who’s been hanging back.
Yeah, she’s not going to be as easy as Gilly, I want to tell him. But he’ll find that out in about three seconds.
“Hello,” she says in a flat voice, arms crossed and making no move toward him.
Rake gives her a little wave. “Nice to meet you, Lucy. Are you wanting to meet some of my teammates too?” he asks with a laugh.
She stares him down. “No.”
Awkward silence.
“Okay, then,” Rake says looking from one of us to the other, most likely wondering what he just walked into.
Gilly decides to fill the void. “So you’re our friend’s new husband. That’s so crazy.” She giggles.
Rake nods. “That I am.” He looks at me with a raised eyebrow.
He’s got questions.
I do too.
Lucy scoops up her bag of garbage. “We’ll be heading back to the city now. You okay here alone?”
She throws Rake a glance, then looks back at me.
I bite my tongue to keep from laughing. She’s good. So good.
But Rake is unfazed. “You okay here alone? With me?” he parrots. A lesser man would run to the door, never to return. But this one’s got some balls.
“Yeah. Let me walk you to the door, ladies.”
Rake takes a seat in the reading nook and picks up the book I’m buying for Gilly.
“Oh, Rake, that’s a really good book. You should read it,” she gushes.
He looks up at her. “Okay, I’ll think about it.” He turns it over in his hands like he can’t wait to get rid of it.
“Nice meeting you in person,” Gilly says.
Lucy walks by without a word.
God, I love her.
We get to the front door and she leans close. “You sure you’re okay here with him? Because I’ll wait to make sure you’re okay. I’ll even kick his ass for you.”
“You know, Lu, you are the best friend a girl could ever have, especially because if I sicced you on him, I know you’d tear him limb from limb. Forget professional athlete. Hell hath no fury like a pissed off Lucy.”
She throws her arms around me, and I let Gilly and her out.
“Call me tomorrow,” Gilly says, gesturing with the universal signal for phone. “I want to hear all about his friends.”
The girl has priorities.