Page 15 of Kiss the Girl
“As long as you know I didn’t put her up to this.”
“Don’t worry. I’m aware of Miss Brooke’s misguided ideas.”
“For what it’s worth, I used to be a Boy Scout.” I held up my fingers in the Boy Scout sign. “I promise not to date you, Grace.”
She held up her wineglass in salute. “I accept your solemn vow.”
“So this means we can have a non-awkward game night?”
“Hundred percent.”
And we did. Brooke came back with a cold beer, a tray of chips and salsa made from the garden she and Miss Lily shared, and a bowl of Muddy Buddies Chex mix.
“Greatest party food in the history of American junk food,” Grace said, reaching for a handful of Muddy Buddies.
“Co-signed,” I said, reaching for some too.
“My snack game is strong,” Brooke said.
“The question is how is your Scrabble game? Because I will destroy you.”
“That’s a bold claim, Grace,” I said. “Are you going to be embarrassed when you lose?”
“I won’t.”
And she didn’t. “Eat it, losers,” she said, laying down her final word. There was no way either of us could catch her at that point.
“I could have won if I hadn’t drawn the Q and Z on the second to last round,” I said, laying out the tiles that would now count against me.
She looked from my letters to the board, then picked them up and spelled Q-U-I-Z with the Z landing on a triple letter score. “You could have won anyway if you’d been paying attention.”
“Burrrrrrn,” said Brooke, tallying the scores. “Grace wins by thirty-seven.”
Grace stood and did a gymnastics salute. It popped her chest and booty out for a second. I would throw all the games if that was going to happen every time she won. I wasn’t a pig, but I appreciate art when I see it, and her butt qualified.
“All right, trash talkers. Go again,” I said, already sweeping tiles off the board into the draw bag.
We played two more rounds, Brooke taking the next game and the final game going to me because my competitive side called BS on my art appreciation side.
“Finally,” Grace said as Brooke announced my winning score.
“You guys talk more smack than sophomore boys during the football unit,” I said.
“We backed it up,” Grace said, unruffled.
“Then why did I just win?” I stood up and did an end zone dance, which made Brooke laugh and Grace shake her head.
“Boy, sit down before you embarrass yourself,” Brooke ordered, climbing to her feet. “Now I’m going to make some brownies, and we’ll play for tiebreaker while they bake. Then we’ll see who gets final bragging rights.”
She disappeared into the kitchen again.
“You know she’s going to stay in there an extra-long time because she’s the most obvious matchmaker in the world, right?” Grace asked.
“Yeah. But seriously, don’t worry about it. I know you’re not into it.”
She cocked her head to study me. “That’s not the way I would put it. It’s more that I’m not into the idea of dating anyone at all. I’m leaving soon.”
“Soon, huh?”
