Chapter 17: Lasagna

I got my jeans on backward and had to take them off again.

Brody was dressed first, and he opened the door a hand's width.

"Who's with her?" he asked.

"Cody," Nate said. "They're standing on the lawn holding a casserole."

I stopped with one boot in my hand.

"A casserole."

"In a foil pan. With a bow."

I put the boot on.

We went down together, and the porch light was on, and Kayla stood at the bottom of the steps in a camel coat with a baking dish in both hands.

Cody stood two feet behind her, looking at the grass.

Across the street, a porch door opened, and a neighbor in a bathrobe came out to watch.

"Maggie," Kayla said, warmly. "I've been so worried. You didn't answer my texts."

"I didn't want to."

"I know. I know." She smiled at Brody, sad and brave. "We came to make peace. All of us. This is awkward and I don't care."

Brody said nothing.

He stood on the top step with his arms folded and his face blank.

"It's lasagna," she said. "Your favorite, Mags."

"It isn't my favorite."

"Of course it is."

"Kayla, it's your favorite. I've eaten it for three years because you made it for you."

Somebody laughed in the dark behind me.

Two teammates had come out onto the porch in their socks, and one of them had a phone half raised.

Kayla's smile did not move.

"I know you're hurt," she said, a little louder. "And I know you've been told things about me. By some people."

Keep reading free with an account. Start He Slept With My Roommate, So I Moved In With the Hockey Captain from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.