Ride Rough - Tessa Layne Page 0,63

Trace Walker?"

It felt like a giant bubble was about to burst inside her chest. She'd been Izzie and Jeanine's confidant as long as she could remember. But for as long as she could remember she'd played her own cards close to the vest, preferring not to burden her friends with what she considered nonessential drama. "I..." she sniffed, shutting her eyes. She cleared her throat.

"CiCi. For once in your life, spill," said Izzie, voice rising to levels of extreme impatience.

"In theory, I could see myself with him long term. But in reality..." her voice faded.

"You think too much, hon. If you can see yourself with him long term, then everything else is just a matter of sorting out logistics. You'll figure it out."

"Trace did mention laying all the cards on the table when he gets home Sunday."

Izzie clapped her hands. "See? I smell a happily ever after," she said sing-songing.

"Wine refill," Jeanine called out, opening the next bottle. "And wait until you see what I queued on Netflix."

"Pride and Prejudice?" Catalina asked, dark eyes wide and hopeful.

"No silly. Trace McBride's blockbuster from last summer, also starring Jason Momoa and Chris Hemsworth. Get ready for an epic, abtastic adventure." She wiggled her eyebrows.

The friends settled in on the couch, Jeanine on one end, Cecilia and Izzie in the middle, and Catalina on far end, curled up, nose in her phone. "Earth to Cat." Izzie waved in front of her face. "Join the land of the living? We're about ready to drool over abs TDF."

"TDF?" Catalina looked utterly confused.

"To die for, silly," Izzie said, snatching her sister's phone. "Hey who's this? Who's C.T.?"

Cat blinked rapidly, and Cecilia swore the girl was blushing to her roots underneath the mask. "No one?"

"No, it's definitely someone." Izzie looked from the phone, back to her sister. "Oh my god, who is it? There's a winking emoji."

Catalina snatched back the phone. "It's nothing," she said sternly, abruptly standing and practically jogging to the kitchen.

Cecilia laid a hand on Izzie's leg. "It's okay. Don't stress her out."

"If there's a man in her life I should be the first to know about it. I wanna know who C.T. is," Izzie hollered down the hall.

"Maybe focus on your own love life for once," Cecilia reprimanded.

Izzie turned bright red. "Right," she agreed, shoulders slumping. "It's... complicated."

"Aren't they all?" sympathized Jeanine, aiming the remote at the T.V. "Which is why we have one-dimensional superheroes to drool over."

Five minutes into the movie a knock sounded at the door. "Come in," Cecilia shouted, reaching for the wine bottle. "But enter at your own risk - it's girls' night."

The door slowly opened, a throat cleared, and Tony Cruz stepped in, hands jammed in his front pockets, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Uh, hi."

The women looked at each other and dissolved into a fit of giggles. "Hi, Tony," Cecilia finally managed. "Don't mind the masks."

He focused on a corner of the ceiling. "So, I, ah... was hoping Catalina was around?"

"Catalina?" Izzie repeated, jaw dropping. "What do you want with Catalina?"

"I seem to have, ahh... a snake behind my fridge."

"A snake," Izzie repeated. "And you need Catalina for this?"

Cecilia had never seen someone turn green before, but Tony looked like he was going to empty the contents of his stomach all over her newly refinished floor. "Tony? Do you need a glass of water?"

He shook his head. "Just, hate snakes," he rasped.

"Did you see it?" Catalina asked, coming in from the hall, face bright red.

"Sis?"

Catalina shook her head. "Allergic reaction to the mask. It's nothing. Come on, Tony. I'll show you how to safely rescue a snake. I guarantee you it's way more scared of you than you are of it."

The relief on his face was comical. Catalina marched out the door without a backward glance. "Uh, thanks ladies," Tony muttered, pulling the door shut behind him.

Jeanine and Cecilia looked at each other, a beat passed, then they burst into giggles. "Lordy, did you see the look on his face? Wait until I tell Weston about this."

Cecilia glanced at Izzie who was still staring at the door, a puzzled expression on her face. "I smell a rat," Izzie said with a shake of her head.

"Snake," Jeanine added with more giggles.

Cecilia peeled off her mask and tossed it in the empty grocery bag. "C'mon, it's time for abtastic." Although twenty-five minutes into the movie, Cecilia still couldn't focus and didn't offer more than a few noncommittal expressions when Jeanine stopped the action to discuss the finer points of the abs