Free Between the Sheets by Molly O'Keefe Page B

Ashley slid in after him, and Ty and Sean exchanged nods before he sat down.
    The bell over the door rang and in walked a teenage girl with long blond hair. The way she walked and the look on her face indicated her youth was a lie. She carried herself like an adult.
    “Gwen!” Sean yelled, lifting his hand to wave the girl over. Ty shrugged out of the way.
    Christ, this was turning into a homecoming party.
    She smiled and crossed over to the table. Gwen hugged Ashley and exchanged elaborate hand slaps with Sean. Brody just nodded and smiled.
    “I’m Ty,” he said, giving the girl a little salute.
    “Gwen.” She nodded as if they were meeting at City Hall or something.
    “You meeting Jackson here?” Sean asked.
    “Monica.” She glanced around. “This place is packed.”
    “Sit.” Ashley scooted over and made room for the girl, who shrugged out of her jacket and sat. All five of them crowded into a booth meant for four.
    Ty was ready to be social, but this was a little ridiculous.
    “How long you home for?” Brody asked Gwen.
    “Jackson’s law school stuff starts earlier than mine, so Monica and I thought we’d hang out here for a few days.”
    “How is school going?” Sean asked.
    “It’s good. I really like my teachers. My roommate is way better since she broke up with her boyfriend, who was a jerk.” Ty admired how this girl talked to adults. She looked so young, but she met everyone’s eyes insteadof staring at her shoes, mumbling her answers down at her lap.
    I wonder if Casey will ever be able to do this . If he’d ever be able to sit at a table full of adults and just talk. Not sneer or slouch in the corner like he was being tortured. Was it something kids learned? He didn’t remember from his own childhood; it had been torn so badly down the middle that a lot of the little memories had slipped away. But one thing was sure: Casey needed to be around people like Gwen.
    “You looking for work for a few days?” Ashley asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
    Gwen laughed. “No, I’m doing some stuff with Shelby out at the Art Barn.”
    Ashley snapped her fingers. “Rats.”
    “You babysit?” Ty’s voice cut through their chatter.
    Gwen blinked and looked quickly over at Brody, who nodded as if giving the girl permission to answer Ty truthfully. All up and down Ty’s neck his skin got hot. He totally understood why she would look to Brody for some kind of affirmation of his character, but it still rankled.
    “I do,” she said. “Do you need some help?”
    “Tomorrow night, actually. I got a fifth-grade boy who isn’t quite ready to be left alone, even though he might think otherwise. It’s just a few hours. I live across the street from the Art Barn.”
    “Yeah, actually, that would be great.” Her smile was so composed. She reminded him of Shelby—a little self-contained universe.
    “You got a hot date?” Sean asked.
    His instinct was to tell Sean to fuck off, but everyone else was staring at him.
    “I guess you could say that,” he answered.
    “Where are you going to go?” Gwen asked.
    “The Pour House?” Sean said, quickly.
    “Not if I want the night to go well,” Ty joked. But not really.
    “Who is your date?” Ashley asked, all wide-eyed. Ashley was not a self-contained universe. She was a sponge, soaking up everything.
    “Shelby Monroe,” he said.
    It was as if he’d detonated a bomb at the table. Everyone jerked back. And then they all started looking at one another, having little silent, meaningful conversations about his taking Shelby out for dinner.
    The surprise was palpable and the judgment rolling off Sean was suffocating.
    And that was the end of lunch with these people. Maybe they were good people, maybe in a few more months he’d be on the inside and this shit wouldn’t bother the fuck out of him like it did, but right now he just needed to go.
    He gave Gwen a smile, because he needed a babysitter and he didn’t need her scared off. “Tomorrow at seven,”