LEO: check your email…
SERENA: Why, did you send me nudey booty photos?
“What the fuck?” I laugh, but then the thought of Serena sending nude photos or even worsereceivingnude photos from someone hits me.
LEO: No. Why. Is that something that happens often?
Damn it, Leo, way to sound like a possessive caveman.
LEO: Forget I said that. Sorry.
LEO: No I didn’t send you… whatever you called them.
SERENA: LOL. Boooo.
SERENA: For the record, no. Never sent ‘em, never received ‘em.
A surge of relief fills me, followed closely by a carnal curiosity.
LEO: Would you ever? Send them that is?
SERENA: Guess it depends on who’s receiving…
LEO: Good point.
I watch the “…” appear and disappear a couple of times, and I can’t deny the anticipation that builds in me. When her message finally pops up, it’s sort of a let down, even though it shouldn’t be.
SERENA: So, my email. Give me a sec
It’s so hard to figure out how hard I can push the flirtation with her right now. So instead, I wait for her to open my email, hoping she likes it. And also, hoping it doesn’t look too conspicuous having a cop car parked out front of her studio for so long. All the other times I’ve stopped by for any length of time, it’s been daytime and I’ve just walked over. But tonight I need to be patrolling, which means the very obvious cop car.
SERENA: Leo…
SERENA: Omg. It’s all of our songs. I love it. Thank you.
LEO: You’re welcome. Maybe someday you’ll dance to Aerosmith for me again.
SERENA: Maybe someday.
LEO: Good night Tippy.
SERENA: Good night Leo.
As I pull away, I press play on the very playlist I sent to her, filled with the soundtrack to our teenage love. I skip ahead to the song we used to slow dance to in my mom’s basement, the song Serena choreographed a dance to for a solo competition she won.
And as Steven Tyler starts singing about how hedon’t wanna miss a thing, I realize I don’t, either. Not anymore.
Chapter nine
Serena
“Amals!” Violet screeches from the backseat for the tenth time this morning. The drive to the farm that Abby and her uncle own isn’t long, but apparently even a short drive can feel infinitely longer when you’ve got an impatient toddler in the vehicle. That alone was eye-opening for me about what life with kids is truly like. Strangely enough, I kind of love it. Her energy is infectious and reminds me of myself sometimes.
“Yes, baby girl, animals. We’re going to see the animals,” Leo says calmly, just as he has every time she’s gotten a little too loud and excited. He turns to me with an apologetic glance. “Sorry, I know she’s a lot right now, but anything to do with animals and you’d never know she’s normally so shy.”
I simply smile back at Violet who’s babbling to herself in her car seat. “It’s fine, Leo. I love how excited she is.”
When Leo texted me the other day to ask if I knew anything about the Martin family farm and how he wanted to take Violet to see the animals on his upcoming day off, I saw a way to spend time with him, but with a buffer. A quick phone call to Abby and I had a special surprise lined up for Violet today.