Page 175 of By A Thread

“Happy to.” The woman nodded. “Take two ice creams,” she insisted. “You can put one on your face.”

57

Ally

Dance class passed in a sweaty blur of thumping beats, high heart rates, and good spirits. My little class seemed to expand every week. The windows were steamed, faces glowed, and dancers of all ages and sizes high-fived on their way out the door.

“That was amazing,” Gola announced, patting her face with a towel.

“Yeah. Uh-huh. Tell us everything,” Ruth said, grabbing me by the front of my sweaty tank.

“Motion seconded,” Missie said between swigs of water.

“There isn’t much to tell,” I lied.

“Bullshit,” Ruth coughed into her hand.

“Have you had sex?” Missie wanted to know.

“I’m not answering that.”

“Question: Does naked Dominic Russo have the same brain-melting potency or a higher dosage than fully clothed Dominic Russo?” Ruth asked.

“Definitely not answering that.”

“How did he ask you out? Was it super romantic?” Gola wondered.

“That one I’ll answer. I believe hetoldme that we were officially dating and that if I had any concerns, too bad because we were seeing this through.”

“That’s totally romantic!” Missie crooned.

We shrugged into coats and scarves and headed the two blocks north to the designated bar. On the walk, I deflected questions like a ninja.

“Did you guys hear that Malina got into a fight with someone in the cafeteria this afternoon?” Ruth asked, staring at her phone.

I decided to keep my mouth shut.

“I heard she came back to the admin pool crying and just walked out,” Gola said.

“I heard someone hit her in the face with a cafeteria tray and called her a stupid asshole.”

“I don’t think that’s what happened,” I interjected.

My friends continued to entertain themselves by asking more ridiculous questions and ignoring my even more ridiculous answers.

Is he a tiger in the sheets?

Who puts a tiger in their sheets?

How did it happen?

I went to a voodoo priestess and cast a love spell on him.

Are you in love?

How about we figure out if we like each other first?

Do you just run around yelling at each other all the time?