Page 66 of Lyrical
She dug her fingers into Daniel’s arm, and her frickin’ leg kicked up. Did she think this was a Hollywood film audition?
“It’s so exciting,” she said.
He smiled, and she lit up. “Can I get you anything?” he asked.
“Hmm… how about aMillerLite since we’re inMillerPark?” Giggle, giggle.
I turned around before I spewed out what food I did have in me.Youdon’t even like beer, you cunty bitch.I had to step away for a minute because my head was not in a good place. She was really getting to me, and I couldn’t let that happen.
I slid open the glass door and stepped down to one of the seats. It was already the second inning, and I was missing it. Perry came out and took the spot next to me, handing me my plate.
“Thanks, but I should probably let my stomach settle before attempting more.”
“Yeah, I can understand that.”
“What is she up to, Perry? If she really likes Daniel, why not be herself instead of a freaking dingbat?”
“I don’t know, Jills. Maybe she thinks she’s coming across as more innocent and less intimidating because of you know… the whole ‘virgin’ thing.” She tried mouthing ‘virgin,’ but it came out loud enough for one of Stephen’s coworkers in the first row to turn around and give us a funny look.
I think I was starting to turn green. I did not want to think of her playing one of her roles as a means to get into my son’s pants. How disturbing.
“So that would mean she knows he’s a virgin,” I said, “because they’ve talked about it. Why the hell would they talk about it, Perry?”
“Take a breath, okay?” She leaned in closer. “I don’t know anything. I’m just making guesses here too. And you’re probably not going to like what I have to say next, but you need to hear it. Unless he takes celibacy vows, Daniel will be having sex, so you need to get over that. It’s rare that he made it this far.”
I scrubbed my face. “I’m well aware of all this, but that doesn’t mean I want to think about him having it with that psycho in there.”
“Agreed. That woman needs to go. Before she winds up being your daughter-in-law or something.”
Now I knew my face resembled a bunched-up head of broccoli.
“Oh shit, Jills. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sick. It’s just… I don’t like her. I don’t trust her. And I sure as hell don’t want her in our family.”
No. I couldn’t even imagine. “You know I feel exactly the same, but really, when it comes down to it, what can I do? I feel kinda powerless here.”
“That’s why you have me to meddle for you.”
“Perry….”
“It worked for you and Chase, didn’t it?” She smiled wide. “If I hadn’t gotten involved, who knows if you two would’ve crossed paths again? I have mad meddling skills, Jills. I’ll figure something out. Daniel deserves so much better, and I want to see him get it.”
“Me too. But do you think we can please change the subject now?”
She nodded and we sat in silence for a while longer, my lunch congealing together into unappetizing clumps.
“Hey, Sam picked a place for the bachelorette party,” she said.
“Really? Where?”
“Downtown. I forgot which hotel, but we’re having a murder mystery night. You should be getting the invitation any day now.”
“Oh, that’s different. I’ve never done one of those before.”
“Me neither. But Sam’s excited about it, and she said we can just book a bunch of rooms for afterwards. This is even crazier than I expected from her.”
“Well, I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun. Did the guys plan anything yet?”
“Nope, but Stephen told Alex he also wants to keep it tame. They’re going to try and do it on the same night.”
