Page 57 of Let's Kiss and Tell

“I would want nothing more.”

“Marsh?!” I hear a voice behind me. I close my eyes in defeat knowing we’re too late. “Oh my god, Marsh!”

Marsh plasters a fabricated smile on his face. “Hey, Dani!”

“What are you doing here?” Dani stands next to me yet completely ignores me. Maybe there’s something about this seat. “This doesn’t seem like your vibe.”

“I’m, uh—”

“We’re just having a little date night,” I cut in, noticing Marsh struggling.

“Oh…” Dani looks down at me, surprised there’s another person beside her.

“Dani, this is Lucy,” Marsh says. “Lucy, this is Dani…an old friend.”

I can feel Dani judging me through her bright green eyes. At least now we’ll know if Marsh and I have the skills to pull off a believable relationship.

“It’s so nice to meet you.” I offer my hand, but she doesn’t take it. The cold shoulder is off-putting. I know that she’s Julia’s bestfriend, but I thought we were over women hating women by now. “Why don’t you sit down for a bit?”

“What?” Dani replies, a distaste to her tone as if I said,Tell me about your first period!

I stand and take a step toward Marsh, putting my hand on his shoulder. “Clearly, y’all haven’t seen each other in a while. Please join us.” I gesture to my seat.

Dani hesitates for a moment, but she clearly wants all the gossip. She’s going to want to interrogate Marsh and learn more about me.

“Sure,” she says. “I’ll grab a chair.”

“Oh, no need,” I hold up a hand. My eyes lock with Marsh’s for a quick second and I try my best to telecommunicate with him what I’m about to do. “You can have mine. I’ve got the best seat right here.” I try not to think too hard about it and plop my ass on Marsh’s lap.

I’m not sure what to process first, the look of utter shock on Dani’s face, the way Marsh’s body completely tenses up, or the strong, masculine scent that wafts around his neck.

“So, Dani.” Marsh clears his throat. “How’ve you been?”

My hand reaches for Marsh’s forearm under the table, and I give it a gentle squeeze. I then feel his body start to relax underneath me. I’m so aware of where his hands are that I can barely pay attention to Dani talking about her recent trip to Florence. Marsh’s hand is resting on my side, but his palm is so large it feels like a weighted blanket, molded to fit my hips.

“That’s great,” Marsh says. “Florence is beautiful.”

Sitting in this position, I feel my already short dress ride up my thighs, and I’m well aware that I have too much skin exposed. I would move, but the mere act of it would be too awkward the way we’re positioned. So instead, I cross my legs. That doesn’t help at all.

Marsh’s eyes flash down to my bare skin, and I can feel his chest rise and fall against me. His gaze shoots right back up to Dani, but the way his eyes lingered on my thighs doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Marsh, where have you been hiding this one?” Dani asks.

“I wasn’t hiding her,” Marsh says calmly. His thumb gently rubs my back.

“How did the two of you meet?” Dani says, her eyes dancing back and forth between us.

“At a bar,” I answer. “I saw him across the room, and I just couldn’tnottalk to him.”

It’s the truth. That night at Jay’s party I saw Marsh looking at records and I really did think he was attractive. I went up to him, and when I saw he was holding “The Girl Is Mine,” I felt his taste in music was the perfect opportunity to start a conversation.

“Youwent up to him?” Dani repeats, and it feels like a jab at both of us.

“I mean, how could I not?” I say like she’s one of my girlfriends. Like we’re in on a secret together. “Look at him. There’s no way I was letting that opportunity slip past me.”

“I see,” Dani says, unconvinced. “And when was this?”

“A few months ago,” Marsh says, remembering our conversation from before. He looks at me, and I give him a little wink. In response, he squeezes my side, making me giggle.