Page 75 of Fly with Me

“Haven’t heard from that sister.” He shrugged, possibly tugging her hair harder than was necessary. “Mom’s praying for me. Her whole Bible study ladies’ group is also praying for me. The implication being exactly what you would expect.”

“Eesh. Want to talk about it?”

“Nope,” he said in a clipped tone.

“You know, Stella’s dad’s gay too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“You met him?”

“Nurse thing.”

“She called you for a medical opinion?”

“You know the drill. She didn’t call me though. He had a fall on the day of the TODAY interview.” She sighed. “Parkinson’s. It seems like an aggressive type. Pretty precipitous downturn.”

“That sucks. Must be tough on her.” He added one more pin and a spritz of hair spray. “Bet she was happy to have you with her.”

“Seemed like it.”

“Any sex yet?”

Olive grimaced as Derek pulled a section of her hair tighter. “Nope. Just me and Alyson working out my constant sexual frustration.”

“I think it’s really weird you named your vibrator.”

“Alyson Hannigan’s story arc as gay Willow on Buffy was a big part of my sexual awakening. It’s an homage.”

“It’s weird as fuck, O.” He spun the swivel chair around, so Olive could see her reflection. “All righty. Voilà.”

“Oh my god. Thank you so much.” She grinned and hugged him. “I owe you so big. I’ll buy you coffee before work when we have shifts together for two weeks.”

“Soy milk only, please. Keeping svelte.”

“Oh, are you?”

“And speaking of. I’ve got to go soon but I want to stay for the She’s All That moment. Go put the dress on.” He made a please scurry away gesture with his fingers.

“The what moment?”

“God, you’re a traitor to our golden age of early 2000s teenage rom-coms.” He gave her a knowing look, like a trivia host giving the contestant another shot.

The reference clicked into place. “Oh, Rachael Leigh Cook. ‘Kiss Me.’ Red dress. Stairs.”

“Ding, ding, ding.” He tapped his nose. “Paul Walker was very important to my sexual awakening.”

“Wasn’t he the bad guy in that movie?”

“I didn’t say it was a healthy part of my sexual awakening.” He again motioned her to go to her room. “What time is she getting here? She’s picking you up?”

“Yes, fifteen minutes? Shit, cutting it close. What are you doing tonight?” She ran to her room, leaving the door half open, and made to shimmy out of her shirt. She pulled on black tights and the black long-sleeved lacy minidress Derek plucked off the clearance rack at Nordstrom. Gus raised his chin, tilted his head, and then let it flop back down. He was obviously unimpressed.

“Going to the gym.”

“Why?”