“Yep.” I whipped out my phone and said, “Hit me.” Right after I typed in the numbers, I sent him a rainbow unicorn mermaid vampire emoji text.
He laughed. “I’d expected a middle finger emoji.”
On a whim, I gave him a tiny head-butt. “Another thing to remember about me, Lund? I live to defy people’s expectations of me.”
“You’ve certainly defied mine.”
“Same.”
With our faces this close, I could see the turquoise flecks in his eyes.
“Can I ask you something weird?” he said softly.
“Sure.”
“Do you smell cookies?”
“Uh. No. Why?”
“Every so often I get a whiff of cocoa and vanilla and it’s . . .” He frowned. Leaned closer, sniffed my neck and said, “Jesus. It’s you.”
My chest tightened. “Are you saying I smell, Lund?”
“Christ. Are you kidding me? I fucking love cookies. That scent has been driving me crazy. Why do you smell like cookies?”
“Probably my cocoa butter lotion. I use a vanilla sugar body scrub too.”
“It’s making me hungry.”
We stared at each other.
A half-shouted, “Hey, Gabi,” had us breaking apart.
We both turned to see Jensen jogging over to us.
Nolan said, “You must be having fun since I haven’t seen you all night.”
“It was a blast watching the three Lund pinball wizards trying to outscore one another.”
“Who won?” he asked. “Your dad or mine?”
“Neither. Uncle Monte kicked both their asses.” Jensen looked at me. “I wanted to say if you’re ready to go, you and Liddy can ride to Snow Village with me ’n Rowan.”
“Really? You have room in your sportscar for two more?”
“I didn’t drive the Corvette. We hired a car service since we knew we’d be drinking.”
My eyes lit up. “Is it a limo?”
“Nah. Just an Escalade.”
Liddy and I had Uber-ed to the party, so having a ride home was too good to pass up. “Sounds great. Thank you. I haven’t seen Liddy in a while.”
“She’s up front. She got cornered by my mom and sister when she mentioned an upcoming trip to Sweden.”
“Cool. I’ll be right there.” After Jensen jogged off—did the man run everywhere?—I looked at Nolan.
He stared back at me. Neither of us knew what to say.
Then he said, “So we’re good?”
“Yeah. We’re good. See you around, Lund.”
“You’ve got my number. Lemme know if you need help with your air hockey slap shot.”
I flipped him off.
Eight
GABI
THE FOLLOWING MONDAY NIGHT
ME: How does the moon cut his hair?
NL: How?
ME: Eclipse it.
NL: Where did you hear that joke?
ME: One of my students. I thought you’d appreciate it.
NL: I do. Thanks.
ME: You’re welcome. Carry on, Lund tycoon.
Don’t forget to let your minions out to play once in a while.
NL: Nah. If I’m chained to my desk, so are they.
ME: You’re still working?
NL: It’s not that late.
ME: Dude. It’s 9:00!
NL: Huh. Time got away from me. I was just about to leave anyway.
ME: Good. I’d tell you that you work too much, but you’d just throw it back in my face that I do too, so I’ll save us the argument and remind you to eat something decent that will replenish the energy you’ve expended today.
NL: Got suggestions?
ME: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn.
NL: Are you being that specific because you have leftovers? Great! I’ll be right over.
ME: Ha-ha. No. That’s what I would buy if I had to stop someplace on my way home from work.
NL: It does sound good. Thanks for the rec.
ME: No prob.
TUESDAY NIGHT
ME: I FOUND A GAME WE CAN PLAY TOGETHER!!
NL: Stop shouting at me.
ME: Sorry. Just excited.
NL: What game?
ME: Download Friendly Fire. It’s a word game app.
NL: Oh. I already play that one. Challenge me to a game. My screen name is Nolansland85.
ME: My screen name is GWellikers47.
NL:
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
ME: How the hell did you get all the letters to play QUAVERS? That was a 127-point word! Are you cheating?
NL: Aww, that’s cute, Welk, that you thought I’d have to cheat to beat you.
ME:
NL: I’ve been playing this game for five years.
ME: Brag much?
NL: Hey, you’re the one who challenged me.
ME: Because I thought it’d be new to both of us. That we’d be evenly matched.
NL: You just hate losing.
ME: You’ll know how it feels next game, Lund.
NL: Bring it.
Nine
NOLAN
THURSDAY NIGHT
ME: Great word, Gabriella! See? This is how you lose gracefully. Take notes.
GW:
ME: How have you had time to finish a game a day with me?
GW: Same question back atcha.
ME: Bored at work.
GW: Samesies!
ME:
GW: If I have time to dick around on my phone, I usually pick single-player games. Trying to best my own high score. You?