Sex Says(81)

“I bet it’s easier than you think,” I hedged gently.

She didn’t look like she thought so.

Turning my hand upside down on the table, I gave her a gentle prompt. “Hand me your cards, will you?”

“Why?” she questioned immediately, and I smiled.

After a couple moments of consideration, she gave in. “Fine,” she said, fishing them out of her bag and handing them over.

I jumped up immediately, went behind the counter without permission and grabbed a pair of scissors before returning to a now-panicked Lola.

“Reed! What the hell! You can’t just cut my cards!” she yelled as I made the first cut through the one she’d just had declined.

“Relax,” I soothed as she seethed. “You’ll just use cash from now on.”

“And get mugged?” she retorted sarcastically.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes, knowing how hard this must be for her and how much harder it probably made it that I was the one making the cuts. “The credit cards are more attractive to a thief than cash. They generally hold a way bigger limit than the wad of cash that can fit in your pocket.”

“Whatever. I have stuff on those cards! Important stuff!”

“Like?” I asked calmly.

“My gym membership.”

I stopped, resting the sides of my hands on the table, scissors and cards in their respective grips. “I’ve never, ever seen you go to the gym. I actually haven’t even seen gym-appropriate attire in your closet.”

“What were you doing in my closet?”

“Not the point here.”

“It will be later,” she threatened, and I laughed.

“The gym?” I asked, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand. “Did you really go?”

“She goes for the smoothies,” her sister Annie announced as she sat down.

Neither of us had noticed her approach. But then again, I hadn’t noticed much other than Lola, and apparently, she’d been just as transfixed by me. I quickly cut the rest of her cards and dumped the remnants into her hands as Annie watched.

“Ooh. Cutting cards. I like this guy!”

“Yeah, Annie,” Lola grumbled. “We know.”

I leaned over to give her a hello hug.

When I sat back down, Lola’s eyes tried to burn me. I chuckled. “So you like the smoothies at the gym. No big deal. There’s a smoothie place right around the corner from Gus’s. I just had one the other day. I bet you’ll like them even better than the gym, and it should save you thirty bucks a month.”

“Fine! But what about my Ipsy bag?”

I stared blankly. Annie laughed. Lola just waited for an answer.

“Ipsy bag?” I asked Annie.

“It’s makeup.”

I looked back at Lola’s face. “Do you even wear makeup?”

“No,” Annie answered helpfully with a smug laugh.

Lola’s demeanor turned hostile. “I do too! I do when I go out, and I could totally wear it more often.”

I shook my head. “You don’t need to.”

She narrowed her eyes, and I quickly reminded myself that my opinion wasn’t even remotely the one that mattered here.

“But, if it’s your passion, it’d probably be cheaper to buy something when you need it rather than getting things every month, no?”

“Stop being so rational!” Annie fake-yelled when Lola opened her mouth, almost as though Lola was a ventriloquist doll.

“Look out,” I heard in my sister’s voice, just as I feared I’d have to stand up and take a position between the two. “Lady with a baby.”

When someone looked into the empty space in her arms, she got nasty. “In my uterus, asshole.”

I figured it was time to intervene. “Excuse me.”

I jumped from my seat and helped her the rest of the way through the crowd, settling her into the chair closest to Annie.

“Lola, Annie, this is my sister, Laura. Laura, this is Lola—”

“I can already tell by the way you’re mooning at her and she looks prepared to stab you.” She held out one hand and rested the other on her enormous belly. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Lola replied, now with a smile.

“And I’m her sister,” Annie offered.

Laura held out her hand again. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Okay,” Annie said shamelessly. “Let’s get back to making Lola cry.”

“Annie!” Lola yelled, and Laura and I grinned.

“Why is Lola crying?” Laura asked easily. Lola turned a little pink but answered nonetheless.

“Reed is cutting up my credit cards. Granted, I probably needed it, but I can’t believe I’m letting him help me.”