Page 14 of Kiss the Girl
But Thursday night when I got ready to head over to Brooke’s, I switched out of my track pants and golf shirt and put on my nice jeans and a casual button-down shirt Paige had given me for Christmas because she said it made my eyes look more green than hazel.
I knocked on Brooke’s door at five after seven. My college roommate had convinced me that only nerds were on time, but I couldn’t bring myself to be any later.
“Hey,” Brooke said, opening the door with a smile. “Come on in.”
I followed her into the living room where Grace was already sitting on the couch, a glass of wine on the coffee table in front of her.
“Hey, Noah.” She gave me a normal smile, probably exactly like the ones she gave Brooke.
“Good to see you again.”Wow, Noah. Remember when you used to havesomegame?
“Even if it’s just my face?” Grace asked, quirking an eyebrow at me as she reached for her wineglass.
“Wait, what?” Brooke said. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing,” I muttered.
“There was an incident at the rehearsal dinner.” Grace took a sip of her wine.
“What kind of incident?”
“I can’t comment,” I said. “I don’t want to expose Grace further than she’s already exposed herself.”
Grace snorted, and Brooke’s forehead wrinkled even more. “Grace?” she said, in an I’m-waiting-young-lady teacher voice.
“No grace,” Grace answered. “Opposite of grace. Noah here found me hanging upside down on the arbor in your dress, flashing the world.”
“Wow,” Brooke said, her voice dry. “I didn’t realize you made a habit of that, Noah.”
“Ha, ha,” I said.
“Now I feel like I’m missing something,” Grace said. “Noah regularly goes around checking out women’s underwear?”
“It’s not my fault you two insisted on showing me yours,” I said, not in the least embarrassed. Because it absolutelywasn’tmy fault.
“Brooke?” Grace said, her tone demanding an explanation.
“First week of teaching last year. Noah came to my classroom for lunch. I went to the restroom. I tucked the back of my skirt into my underwear. Noah was the one who had to let me know why all the kids in the hall had laughed at me.”
“Whoa, Noah,” Grace said. “You get around.”
They were revving up. I’d never spent time with them together, but I could tell I was about to get tag-teamed. “Can we stop talking about y’all’s underwear? You both need to develop new interests beyond flashing innocent bystanders. Like—” I flicked a glance at the box on the table. “Scrabble? Really, Spencer? That’s your idea of a good time?”
“It’s Greene now,” Brooke said, plopping down in the only armchair in the room. “And yes. Scrabble.”
The only other place to sit was next to Grace on the sofa. I had a feeling that wasn’t an accident on Brooke’s part, and I didn’t mind one bit. I hoped Grace didn’t either. “Scrabble isn’t a great team game,” I said, reaching for the box.
“Who said anything about teams?” Brooke asked.
Grace looked from me to Brooke. “It’s just the three of us tonight?”
“Of course,” said Brooke, and then she jumped to her feet again. “Oh, I almost forgot to offer you a drink, Noah. What can I get for you?”
“A beer is fine. Also, I was promised snacks. Good snacks.”
“Coming right up.”
She disappeared into the kitchen, and Grace glanced over at me, smiling. “The funny thing is that she thinks she’s subtle.”
