Page 19 of Sparks Like Ours

As if that were an option.

Chapter Five

“He had constantly moving hands. Like rovers. All over the place.”Elle sipped her Sauvignon Blanc, appreciating the crisp reveal of flavors. “Alot of touching going on.”

“Thank God. I hate it when a guy just grabs hold and goes for it.”Holly grinned, enjoying the details from Elle’s date with Christopher twonights earlier.

If only Elle could enjoy them as much. She’d hadn’t thought muchabout the night since, which told her it hadn’t made much of an impact.

“What else?” Holly asked. Her hair bounced as she readjusted tosit cross-legged on her brown leather couch.

Elle noted distantly that Holly’s house always smelled of cinnamonand apples. Homey, like her. She sighed from her spot on the floor and searchedfor more details that she hadn’t filed away, realizing she was failing at girltalk yet again. “That’s not enough?”

“Not nearly. I’ll help. So, his hands are on the move, what then?Spare no detail. This has been a long time coming. When was the last time yougot laid?”

Elle thought on it. “A year ago. The guy with the beard, remember?It’s when we learned I hate beards. They’re so awful, Hol.”

“Right. Don’t remind me about your facial hair issues. Back toChris’s hands.”

“Well, he has big hands and they’re clumsy.”

“I love big hands.” Holly closed her eyes as if whisked away to amagical sex island. “They give me thoughts.”

“He tried to unbutton my shirt, but he couldn’t quite kiss and dothat at the same time. Tons of fumbling, which is not his fault. Don’t get mewrong, but again, big hands. It kind of ruined the mood.”

Holly went still. “What do you mean ruined the mood?”

Elle stood and walked to Holly’s kitchen, where she dumped therest of her wine and filled her glass with water. Her early morning workoutwould thank her. “We just talked after that. He’s an awesome conversationalist,really. Did you know he studied abroad in Rome when he was twenty? He can stillspeak Italian and apparently makes a mean veggie lasagna. He’s going to make medinner one night soon.”

Holly looked like she’d just announcedGame of Throneswas moving to the HallmarkChannel. “Hold everything. You’re saying you didn’t have sex? This storydoesn’t end in sex?”

“It doesn’t,” Elle said. “But I still had a great time. We reallyclick.”

“I thought this was gonna be a sex story. This was hugelymisleading.”

Elle inclined her head from side to side. “It’s kind of sexy,though, right? Making out, a little bit of groping, hands on the move. No?”

“Yeah, until you stopped them.” Holly paused. “Have you everconsidered that you’re just not that into him?”

Elle had considered it. In fact, she still considered it, becauseif she were into him she wouldn’t have been balancing her checkbook while heattempted to get her naked. There was a disconnect, but then that wasn’texactly new. Sex just wasn’t as important to her as it was to other people. Theother stuff mattered more. Not a big deal. Some people also liked broccoli,while others were less enthused. It’s what made people different from oneanother. “Sex isn’t everything, Hol. Besides, and hear me out,maybeI just need totake some time for me and focus on surfing. The season is right at its midpoint,and this is probably not the best time to get caught up in anything overlyromantic anyway. Christopher and I can keep it light.”

“And compare lasagna recipes.” Holly pouted, which she didexceptionally well. “Whatever you say. Allow me to hang up my matchmakingcape.”

“You don’t have a cape.”

“Maybe that was part of the problem. What do I know aboutmatchmaking anyway? I was totally improvising. Oh!” A lightbulb seemed topropel Holly into action. She grabbed her laptop. “I almost forgot. Did you seeyourself on SurfNuggets?”

She hadn’t. In fact, she avoided SurfNuggets as much as possible.That website reported mainly gossip from the surf world, and usually got itwrong. The last story she’d seen about herself said she’d gained twelve poundsand was leaving the tour for a health camp. Total lies. She loved mediaattention, just not that kind.

Holly whirled the laptop around to face Elle. She stared down atthe headline. “Declaration of War.” The article went on to detail a tumultuousrelationship between Elle and the number two ranked Gia Malone. It described anall-out feud in which they fought for the Trainers endorsement deal. The shortparagraph ended with the line “The claws are out and boy do they sting.”

She pointed at the screen, laughing it off. “Ridiculous.”

“Well, only a little,” Holly said, studying the screen. “They gotmost of it right. You guys do have a rivalry going and Trainers is a legitimateendorsement deal. You just happen to be sharing it.”

Elle rejected the notion. “No way. There’s no backbiting, nounderhanded tactics.”

“Yet,” Holly said, with a grin.

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