Page 18 of The Making of Mila and Blake
“Oh yeah!” Savannah cuts in, popping up next to us. She scribbles into the appointment book poised against her chest. “My dad has a work conference in Atlanta, so he and my mom are out of town this weekend. Myles, the jerkthat he is, is taking advantage and throwing a party. I could either put up a fight and stop him before our parents kill us. . . or I can just roll with it.”
“Roll with the waves, baby!” Tori whoops.
Savannah lifts her eyes from the appointment book. “So yeah. Party at the Willowbank Ranch this Saturday. And it’s a poolparty, okay?”
“So I need a bikini that’s fire,” Tori says. “Got it.”
The hairs on my arms spike at the thought of the Bennetts’ pool. Ever since I saw Blake at Jefferson’s, it has become so hard not to associate everything in Fairview with him. There are just so many memories fromthatsummer, and they’ve all come flooding to the surface to penetrate my every damn thought. And there’s no doubt Blake will be invited to this party. He’s their cousin.
“Savannah,” I say, blinking away the image of Blake in his swim shorts. “Why don’t you invite Teddy? You can hang out with him outside of work and make your move.”
Tori scoffs. “But Teddy isold.”
“He’s twenty-one,” Savannah says, rolling her eyes. She props her pen between her teeth and contemplates my suggestion, much to Tori’s contempt. “Do you think he’d come?”
“Do you think I’d come where?” Teddy asks, startling us.
Savannah flinches so hard she drops her pen. She scrambles to fetch it from the ground, blushing once more as Teddy rocks up. Tori, from her seat on the hay bale, sips her coffee in silence.
“Are you free Saturday?” I ask, because I know Savannah’s nerves will have her struggle to stammer out the words. I smile and touch her shoulder. “Savannah and her brother are hosting a party. A pool party. You should come.”
“But bear in mind you’ll probably be the oldest person there,” Tori points out.
“I don’t know. . .” says Teddy. “Do you want me there, Sav?”
Savannah almost dies on the spot. I widen my eyes at her, giving herthe look,desperately urging her to say something, anything.She parts her lips and, without a hiccup, says, “Of course. I’d love if you were there.”
I grin with pride.
Saturday night, Operation “Hook Up Savannah With Teddy” will commence. It seems I can’t count on Tori to be a second wingwoman, so it’ll be down to me.
“Then sure, I’ll be there,” Teddy says, his smile effortlessly perfect. His eye catches mine. “Are you going?”
“I live and breathe pool parties. California girl, remember?”
Tori sighs loudly, like just being in these stables is mentally draining, and she gets to her feet. “Well, I just dropped by with some coffee, but I have better things to do on my day off than endure the smell in here. I’ll catch you guys later.”
“Wait,” Savannah calls out. “It’s really not that bad!”
But Tori is already gone.
Teddy removes his hat, revealing his flattened blond hair, which he ruffles his hand through. “Every time I meet that girl, I get the feeling she doesn’t like me,” he says with a laugh. Then he shrugs, unbothered.
I turn to Savannah for an explanation. She knows Tori way better than I do. “Yeah, what’s up with her?”
“I have no idea. She’s been sosnappy lately.” Savannah hopelessly shrugs, then hugs the appointment book tightly to her chest. “Um, Mila, I should say. . . Blake will be at the party. Obviously, I want you to be there, but I totally get it if you want to give it a pass. I know it’ll be super awkward. Ugh, Nathan will be there too. But yeah. Just let me know.”
Savannah was there for the awkward moment outside Jefferson’s, but she doesn’t know about yesterday’s events. She doesn’t know I found Jason stumbling around drunk downtown, and she definitely doesn’t know that Blake and I combined efforts to get his dad home safe and sound. It’s not something to gossip about. I don’t know what any of it means, and it seems too personal to share with even my closest friends. I imagine Blake will be grateful if I keep my mouth shut.
“It’s okay. I’ll still come,” I tell Savannah. I survived yesterday, didn’t I? I can definitely survive a pool party. Hopefully, there’ll be so many people there that the chances of having to communicate with Blake one-on-one again are slim.
“Blake?” Teddy says with curiosity. “Is he that ex of yours? The one you saw on Saturday.”
Savannah’s brows knit together. I didn’t tell her that Teddy and I briefly hung out after she took me home last weekend, because I didn’t think it mattered. Besides, Teddy wants the foxes to remain his little secret.
“Yeah, that’s him,” I say, then immediately change the subject. “Right. What’s next on our to-do list?”
Teddy exchanges a mischievous smirk with Savannah and nestles his hat back on his head. “Fredo has left you a gift in his stall, so you might want to go grab the pooper scooper.”
