Page 44 of Saving Graces
Rosalie looked up at her, a flash of something in her eyes.
“Right,” she said. “I mean, of course.”
“And it was months ago,” Kinsey continued, with a small shrug, “so it’s water under the bridge by now.”
“Definitely,” Rosalie swallowed.
“So we’re cool, right?”
“Totally,” Rosalie said. “So cool.”
“Well,” Kinsey smiled at her, “I’ll see you around.” She took a couple of steps, then turned back to see Rosalie was rooted in place, watching her go. “How long are you staying?” she asked, her tone friendly.
“Another couple of weeks,” said Rosalie, her voice a little tight.
“Oh,” said Kinsey. “Me too. Catch you at dinner?”
“Mmhm,” Rosalie said.
Kinsey walked away, feeling eyes on her body, a small smile still on her lips.
That night as they sat by each other at dinner again, something had shifted. Rather than spending the whole meal trying to pretend Kinsey didn’t exist, like she had the night before, Rosalie seemed to subtly orient her body towards her. There was nothing blatant, no touching, no flirting, just somehow an implicit acknowledgment that they weren’t quite strangers. Kinsey felt an almost irresistible pull to turn toward her too, but she ignored it. She could feel it, like an energy shift, Rosalie becoming more and more tuned into her, the less she gave her. Kinsey was not especially into games, but the effect was… intriguing, to say the least.
“How was writing today?” Brynn asked them.
“So good,” said Cassidy, turning to Kinsey “Wasn’t it?”
“It was,” she confirmed. “We wrote a killer song, actually.”
“Has it got a name?” Brynn asked.
“The Runner,” said Kinsey.
Savannah looked interested. “I take it it’s not about athletics?”
“No.” Cassidy and Kinsey looked at each other. Cassidy wasn’t about to elaborate on her end.
“Just a little thing,” Kinsey said, “about people who run.”
She felt, rather than saw Rosalie shift beside her. Savannah looked at Kinsey, her thoughtful gaze assessing.
“Huh,” she said simply.
Chapter Fourteen
The next evening after dinner, Rosalie entered the third-floor living room and held back a sigh. This just kept happening. Tonight, for example, the kids were asleep early and the grownups were relaxing with a movie night. There were three big, cushy couches arranged around the big screen. On one, Cassidy was sprawled, her head on Lane’s lap, their fingers in her hair. On the other, sat Brynn, Savannah nestled cozily into her body, Brynn’s outstretched arm around her shoulders. Which left the third couch.. for Kinsey and Rosalie.
It was the curse of hanging out with couples. If Kinsey hadn’t been there, Rosalie would have been the extra addition, the added party of one. That wasn’t the most comfortable position to be in, but it was a lot more comfortable than the way the two of them kept getting thrown together like a third couple by default. At the dining table, the two of them always sat side by side. Or earlier today, the two of them were placed together in the back of the luxury van as they were all ferried up a snowy mountain ski resort, not because any of them were skiers, but because the view from the top was gorgeous. Then, of course, when they got there, the ski lifts were all built for two. Each couple jumped in ahead and snuggled up close in the cold.
Kinsey had turned to her and smiled, a faint hint of an eye roll at their predicament as the ski lift caught them and carried them away together again.
The bar came down overhead, and the two of them swayed in the silence as the lift creaked excruciatingly slowly over the view. About thirty feet in front of them, Savannah and Brynn were stealing a kiss. Rosalie looked away.
“So,” said Kinsey after a while, her voice a light tease. “Here we are again.”
Rosalie risked a glance sideways and instantly regretted it. Kinsey looked extraordinarily appealing, the contrast of her gleaming black hair against the snowy backdrop, a lovely flush on her skin from the cold.
“I guess so,” Rosalie said. Of course Kinsey would go straight for the elephant in the room, now they were stuck forty feet in the air with nowhere to go. “The joys of being the fifth and sixth wheel.”
