Seeing Mindy acting like Mindy, the nicer Mindy, had the panic in his chest lessening. Unfortunately, the panic was probably what had stopped his hand from hurting, because it was throbbing like a mo fo now.
Before he knew what Mindy intended to do, she hugged him. They hadn’t hugged each other since his mom stopped making them hug to make up after a fight. Oddly, this one was nicer.
He really did love his sister, even when she was a snot.
“Thank you,” she said and pulled back.
She looked around him. “Here comes Tami with the ice.” She glanced down at his hand. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
“I’m fine,” he lied.
She made a face, looking from Tami back to him. “Look, I know you have a thing for Tami and … if you tell her I said this, I’ll lie and say I didn’t, but …” She looked up again. “She kind of has a thing for you, too. I didn’t approve, but after seeing you two today, I think you might be great together. So, go for it. You have my permission to date my best friend. But be nice to her.”
Chase’s head reeled with that piece of information.
“Here.” Tami came running up with a cup of ice and some paper towels. “They didn’t have any plastic baggies, so this will have to do.” She pulled him over to the picnic table. “Sit down and let me put ice on it.” He sat down on the bench facing her instead of the table. She stepped between his legs, and quickly started emptying ice into the paper towels.
“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt at all.” It wasn’t a lie this time. Hearing that Tami had a thing for him chased the pain away.
She picked up his hand and dropped the paper towel filled with ice on his hand. “You were awesome,” she said. In the corner of his eye, he saw his sister move a few feet away as if giving them space.
He glanced up at Tami. “Not really. I should have chased his ass off a long time ago.”
“Mindy wouldn’t have let you. Besides, I … never thought watching a guy fight would be hot, but it was.”
“You think I’m hot?” he asked, loving the sound of that.
She grinned. “I think you’re a hero.”
“So I’m not hot?”
She laughed. “You’re both.” She dipped her head and kissed him. It wasn’t one of those that came with tongue, but it was much more than a simple peck.
And it didn’t end quickly. It lasted, not long enough, but long enough for it to mean something.
When she pulled back, he looked up at her. “Are you only kissing me because I hit Eric? Because I don’t want to have to hit a guy every time I want to score a kiss.” He smiled at her, his heart still racing from feeling her lips against his.
“No,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time. And …” she made a funny face, “since I’m gonna die soon, I figured I’d better do it.”
“In that case, do you think you should do it again?” It was a lame line. But it worked.
She kissed him again. And this one did come with a little tongue. He was nervous at first, but just like he thought, he didn’t suck at it. He suddenly felt confident. He even reached up with his uninjured hand and held the back of her head.
The sound of a ringing phone broke the kiss. His sister stood about ten feet away staring and smiling as she pulled her phone out.
When she looked at the phone’s screen, her eyes widened with panic. She came running up. “It’s Dad. Pleeeasse tell me you didn’t call him about this.”
“I didn’t,” he told her and stood up. “He’s probably just checking in.”
She inhaled a breath and took the call.
“Hey, Dad,” Mindy said, sounding extra cheery, but she really did sound okay. She paused. “I hate that. Yeah, we were ready to come back anyway.” She looked up at Chase. “Okay, we’ll meet you in twenty minutes.”
She dropped the phone back in her pocket. “He’s picking us up early. Something about a storm and a surgery he’s been called in to do. We’re going to have to leave this afternoon. Like soon, because everyone is trying to get out of town before the storm.”
“I hate that,” Tami said.
“Me, too,” Chase said. He wasn’t ready for this weekend to end. He plopped the ice he’d been using on his knuckles on the table. He moved his hand. It wasn’t broken, just bruised.