Jenni shrugs. “Sure. We’re playing UNO.”
Molly slides into the seat next to me, but she doesn’t look my way. Instead, she zeroes in on Jenni, who’s already shuffling thecards with her usual chaotic enthusiasm, launching into a full-blown monologue about how much I suck at this game and how she’s hoping Molly will be a moreworthy opponent.
But I see it.
The way Molly’s shoulders carry a little more weight than usual. The slight tremor in her fingers when she reaches for a card. The way she’s trying so damn hard to act normal and pretend that everything is fine.
I lean in, dropping my voice so only she can hear as I whisper in her ear, “Who hurt you?”
Her scent—wildflowers, sunshine, something purely her—wraps around me, making the concern in my chest pull even tighter. It takes me back. Back to the little girl I used to look out for. The one I would’ve fought the whole world for.
But Molly isn’t that girl anymore. She’s strong. Unshakable. Or at least, I thought she was. Maybe that was my mistake, not asking her how she was doing when I was caught up in Jenni.
If something has pushed her this far to tears, it’s not small. It’s not something she can just shake off. And whoever or whatever did this?
I’ll make it right – or die trying.
“No thinking I can’t handle,” she whispers back, giving me a pointed stare. If we thought we were being discrete, we failed miserably because when I finally tear my gaze away from Molly, Jenni’s staring at us curiously.
“Okay… weirdos,” she whispers under her breath before laying down a reverse and a Draw Four card back to back.
“What rules are these?” Molly asks.
“My special ones,” Jenni responds, and Molly shakes her head with a smile.
“Okay, then catch me up on what we’re playing,” Molly says with a playful smirk, and the game takes off.
From that moment on, it’s chaos. I’m hopelessly out of my depth, struggling to keep up with whatever warped version of the game that Jenni’s concocted this time, while Molly and Jenni chatter away like old friends.
I can’t focus. Molly’s presence is magnetic, her laugh slipping under my skin and distracting me at every turn from what I want to know. She’s here, but she’s nothere.
After a few rounds where I’m consistently the first one out—no surprise—Molly turns to me with that sweet, disarming smile that could melt stone and has me leaning back slightly out of pure shock. Her hand lands lightly on my thigh, and my heart stumbles instantly. Fuck, there’s something about a woman’s touch when you haven’t been touched in so long.
Or maybe it’s just Molly.
“Do you mind if Jenni and I chat for a few minutes?” she asks softly, her voice laced with hidden meaning.
I arch a brow curiously but decide not to press. “Sure. I’ll grab us some drinks.”
I step away from the table, heading for the drink station, but I can’t help sneaking a glance back. They’re already leaning in close, their heads almost touching as they talk about something that doesn’t look like the game. Moments later, laughter bursts from their corner, light and carefree. I shake my head with a grin.
Girls.
After giving them what feels like is enough time to discuss whatever Molly wanted, I return with three plastic cups of what I think is orange soda. The murky liquid doesn’t exactly scream quality, but it’s what’s available today along with the usual stale pizza that I’m avoiding.
Jenni wrinkles her nose the second I set the cup down in front of her and shoves it away dramatically. Molly, never one to make someone feel uncomfortable, takes hers with a polite smile, though she doesn’t take a sip.
“Thanks,” she says, and I feel absurdly proud for half a second—until I take a swig of my own drink.
It’s flat.
Really flat.
They were right to pass on it.
I set my cup down with a grimace and glance at the two of them, now clearly sharing an inside joke at my expense. Molly’s eyes sparkle with amusement as Jenni struggles to suppress a snort of laughter.
“Two for two, huh?” I mutter, shaking my head at both.
