Graceless - Page 68

“What?” Savannah looked at them with concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you need a recap?” Brynn said, her eyes sparkling with held-back laughter. “Your sister went over to Lane’s place a couple of hours ago in nothing but a bikini. She’s currently passed out in their bed and you’re quizzing Lane about what she’s been up to for all the time in between?”

Lane nearly died. Like actually. Savannah looked at them closely and Lane screwed their eyes tightly shut, unable to deal with the scrutiny. When they opened them again, Savannah was nodding slowly. And she didn’t stop. It was like her head was on a spring.

“Oh,” she said, still nodding. “Right…”

Then Emmeline started to cry from the next room and she looked at Lane for another beat then turned to go and soothe her child.

“Shit!” Lane looked at Brynn, feeling panicked. “Is she going to murder me? Fire me?”

Brynn shook her head, grinning.

“I’m pretty sure she’s in there practicing that whole ‘if you hurt them I’ll hunt you down’ speech,” she told them.

“I won’t hurt her,” Lane said tightly, adamant, and Brynn laughed out loud.

“The speech is for Cassidy,” she told them. “Oh my god, your face when Savannah asked if she was annoying you,” she cackled. “Priceless.”

“Fuuuck!” Lane slapped their forehead. “Was I obvious?”

“You were when you were making out with her on the front lawn all afternoon, in direct view of the house,” Brynn told them smugly. “I looked out to see what the weather was doing. When I looked again about six hours later, you were still at it.”

“Oh, Jesus.” Lane was pretty sure their face would never return to normal temperature.

“Y’all,” Brynn said, “are cute as fuck.”

“You knew?”

“You forget I have one of my own,” Brynn said with a smile. “I’d know that look in those eyes from a hundred feet away. That girl has been driving herself crazy over you.” Lane looked down, unable to hide the slight undeniable ping of joy at that. “And you.” Brynn smirked. “Oh man, it’s so satisfying seeing you get knocked sideways.”

“Alright.” Lane rolled their eyes, trying their hardest not to grin.

“I’ve never seen you get worked up about anything, let alone a girl,” she continued. “Especially one who can run rings around you.”

“I can hold my own,” Lane protested. Brynn snorted.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. Good luck.”

A couple of hours later, Lane returned home to one hell of a sight. There, in their kitchen, stood Cassidy, her back turned, leaning slightly over the bench polishing off the last of the sweet green grapes Lane had been saving. She was wearing one of Lane’s boxy white t-shirts and, from the extent of the bare skin on show beneath it, absolutely nothing else. Lane’s body went from zero to one-hundred in an instant.

“Hey,” they said, their tone low. Cassidy turned around and their eyes met. She smiled. She was the prettiest girl Lane had ever seen in their life and she was in their house, wearing their clothes.

“Hey,” she replied. Her smile didn’t falter as Lane stayed still, staring at her.

“I like your outfit,” they said eventually, already imagining taking it off her.

Cassidy looked down.

“I’m so going to have to sneak in when I go home,” she said. “All I have to wear is my bikini or your clothes. So that won’t be obvious at all.” She raised her eyebrows.

“What I’m hearing,” Lane took a step towards her, “is that you’re basically trapped inside my house with no clothes.”

She bit her lip, her eyes on them.

“That’s right.”

Lane took another step and she took one sideways, her eyelashes lowering coyly. They watched her hungrily and she dodged past them, backing away through the living room, her bedroom eyes unmistakable as she made them chase her.