Stripped Down (Tap That)

“Oh, shit.” Rick slipped the leash off of Kate and took off running, assuming she would follow him.

She did. Like it was a game. He cut up through what he hoped was Maribeth’s yard and took off for River, who was walking her bike and looking scared. The dog was keeping pace with him.

He could hear Maribeth talking to presumably Tom, who then called for the dog. “Kate!”

Rick tried to make it look like he was trying to capture Kate. He wasn’t sure how successful he was being. Then River screamed, like she was afraid of dogs, and dropped her bike. She cut across the street, cutting right through the yard that led to his car. Kate, clearly gleeful to be free, ran straight after her.

Damn. Kid was brilliant as usual.

Rick grabbed her bike and followed.

When he popped on the next street, River was sitting in his car with Kate, her snack bag open.

He threw the bike in the trunk and jumped in. He started the engine and got the hell out of there. “We’re out of here.”

“Thanks. Want a pretzel?” River asked.

“You talking to me or the dog?”

“Either of you.”

“I’m good.” He glanced over at her as they left the housing development. “We did it. If you ever tell Dad about this I will deny it, just so you know.”

River scoffed as she fed a pretzel to a very eager Kate. “I can keep a secret. Like, for example, I know you are goo-goo-gah-gah for Sloane and I haven’t said a single word about it.”

“Goo goo gah gah? What the hell is that?” He was keeping an eye on his rearview mirror to make sure they weren’t being chased. “Isn’t that what babies do?”

“Well, maybe. But I mean you look at her and you’re all ‘ooh, Sloane, beautiful.’ You’re squishy and weird.”

“I’m squishy and weird? We’re friends, River. That’s all.”

“You’re in love with her.” She popped a pretzel in her mouth and spoke around it, pretzel bits flying out of her mouth. “I know des tings.”

“Don’t talk with food in your mouth,” he said automatically.

River may be smart but what the hell did she know about adult love? Nothing. Her mother had followed the example of Rachel’s mother and his mother and rolled on out on her kid. There were no examples of healthy marriages in River’s life, so he was going to assume for whatever reason she had it in her head that this could be a thing.

She was wrong.

Because sure, he liked Sloane. He’d been lusting after her for years. He thought she was smart and compassionate and generous. That wasn’t love.

Or was it?

Fuck.

“Give me a pretzel.”

Eleven

Sloane took Winnie up on her offer and cut out of work early. She drove over to her dad’s house. “Hey, Dad, are you leaving for Tap That?” she said, calling him from the driveway.

“Five minutes. What’s up? Are you in the driveway? Come in.”

“Yeah, okay. I just wanted to go through my old room and some of my stuff.” To look for her uniform. She thought it was likely it was still there because her father didn’t throw anything away.

“Sure. Stay as long as you want.”

She got out of the car as her father opened the front door. “You hear anything about Kate?” he asked. “I heard there was an issue.”