Free Stroke of Love by Melissa Foster Page B

you’ve done with the scarves. The last time I was here, the windows were bare.”
    “I needed color,” she snapped.
    “Well, your sticky notes add that.”
    Kate paced the small room, three steps one way, turned on her heel, then continued with three steps the other way. “I don’t want him. I just don’t want her to have him.”
    “Liar.”
    Kate crossed her arms and huffed.
    “Just sayin’.”
    “Where are they even going? The town is an inch long.” Kate flopped onto the bed, then popped right back up and paced again.
    “You’re making me nervous.” Luce moved to the side of the room so Kate had a clear path to pace. “I’ve never seen you like this. What’s got your panties in a bunch?”
    Kate pressed her lips into a tight, angry line and stared at Luce as understanding dawned on her.
    “Oh…that’s what it is. He has your panties in a bunch. Or rather…Oh, never mind. Well, that’s quite a problem, then, isn’t it?”
    “No. It’s not a problem because he’s just some guy. He’ll be gone soon, and I’ll move on to another location.” She looked down at her shirt, which was nearly dry, the outline of her breasts still visible, and she remembered the way Sage had looked at her, like she was the hottest girl on the planet. She never felt hot, and in that one second, she’d never felt hotter. Or angrier, or maybe hurt . Ugh . She didn’t know what she felt. She flopped on the bed again and blew out a breath. “That was fun this afternoon. I miss doing things like that.”
    “I bet. There aren’t many girls to have girl time with around here, are there?”
    “Wanna go get a drink?” Or twelve?
    Luce reached for her hand and pulled her off the bed. “Brave girl after last night.”
    “Shut up. I need to chill.”
    Luce followed her back toward the mess hall. “I’m not walking you home tonight, just so you know. I hate that creepy path.”
    “You brave New York City every day and you can’t walk through a little jungle path?” Kate tried to sound carefree, but inside, her stomach was one big, angry, and hurt bundle of knots. Do I have to be model pretty for him to notice me? Granted, she had sent him mixed signals. Maybe Luce was right. Maybe I do need to step up my game. Shit, who am I kidding? I have no game.
    Two hours later, she and Luce were two sheets to the wind…again. And she felt damn good. All that festering confusion was cast aside and replaced with a lighter, freer feeling. She put her arm around Luce’s shoulder as they stepped from the empty mess hall into the darkness. “Did you buy that beer?”
    “No. I think your alpha hunk did.”
    “Really? Hm…” My alpha hunk. I like the sound of that. Oh God. What is wrong with me? No, I can’t like the sound of it…but I do . They hadn’t stopped to get beer after his Skype call. He must have gotten it when he Skyped his mother to get the art supplies. His mother. What kind of man Skypes his mother the day after he arrives? Maybe he was secretly a wimp. A loser. Yeah, right. A big, sexy, talented loser. She felt like a yo-yo. Her mind was right back to wondering if she’d judged him too harshly. “Wanna go dancing?”
    “Girlfriend, I wanna find my bunk and hunker down for a room-spinning night of reading romance and pretending I have a man.” Luce laughed. “No. Seriously. That’s what I’m gonna do, minus the reading. But you can’t go into town this late by yourself.”
    Kate sat down on one of the wooden benches. “I’m not. I’m just gonna sit here and stargaze. I’m not ready to go home. I feel too good.”
    “You sure you’re okay? I can stay with you.”
    Kate waved her hand. “I’m cool. Really. I do live here without you ninety-eight percent of the time, or something like that.”
     
    SAGE PRIED PENELOPE’S hand from his thigh for the millionth time that evening. She was like superglue. No matter how many times he disengaged from her, she found her way back. When she wasn’t hanging on