Playing the Player(18)

“Commercial! Commercial!” hollered Elmo, whacking Trina on the head.

All the kids burst into applause, and so did the moms.

I shoved Max off my lap and hurried to the stage. Gilly looked ready to blow a gasket, as did Trina.

“I’m not done!” Gilly yell-whispered at Trina. “I have lots more words.”

Trina glanced up at me. When I saw the embarrassment in her eyes and the blush still coloring her cheeks, I was surprised by the twinge of sympathy I felt.

She turned away from me. “Please, Gillian. No more.”

Gilly danced with excitement. “Was I good, Slade?”

Great. No matter what I said, I’d piss off one of them. I glanced at Trina, whose eyes were still lowered. Whoa. She had really long eyelashes. I hadn’t noticed that before. I blinked and refocused on Gilly.

“You’re so…creative, Gilly. And you did great with the voices. But, um, maybe the others kids should have a turn.” I knelt and pried Miss Piggy out of her grip, then handed the puppet to the girl in the Snow White dress.

“Miss Piggy doesn’t love Elmo,” Max announced, appearing next to us. “She loves Kermit.”

“But Kermit’s green,” Gilly argued. “Elmo’s cuter. Miss Piggy should love him.”

Trina sighed next to me. Our eyes met, then she glanced away, her cheeks still flushed. “Story time starts at ten,” she said. “Let’s put the puppets away and pick out some books while we’re waiting.”

Gilly stomped her foot. “I hate story time. They always read boring stories.”

Max stomped his foot in solidarity. “Yeah. They never read about science. It’s always stories about lost puppies or runaway bunnies.”

I bit back a laugh. “You know, my favorite book was about a bunny that got lost.”

The kids looked at me, eyes big and curious.

“What is it?” Max asked.

“The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. You should ask your parents to read it to you.”

I felt Trina watching me. “What?” I asked, expecting a lecture about my reading taste.

She shrugged then ducked her head, avoiding my gaze. “I loved that story, too. Fourth grade read-aloud. I made my mom buy it for me because I loved it so much.”

“Oh.” I waited for her to say something else, but she busied herself putting the puppets into a plastic tub.

“How long before snack?” Max asked, tugging on my arm.

“Um,” I glanced at Trina.

She jumped up and put her hands on her hips. For someone so short, she had great legs.

Shit. What was wrong with me today?

“Didn’t you read the schedule, Slade?”

Whoa. I didn’t care what her legs looked like or how long her eyelashes were when she treated me like one of the kids.

“No, I didn’t. I was busy last night.”

“I’ll bet you were,” she muttered, kicking at the carpet with her flip-flop.

“It’s the MPS,” Gilly whispered loudly to Max. “My mom says it makes girls crabby.”

“Gilly!” Trina snapped, whipping her head around like that chick in The Exorcist. “That is a very inappropriate thing to say.”

Gilly gave us an angelic smile. “You mean like calling Slade a playboy?”

“I still don’t see why that’s a bad word,” Max said. “What’s wrong with playing?”

Why couldn’t I be working in Victoria’s Secret? I’d be surrounded by hot chicks trying on slinky underwear and—

“Snack time,” Trina announced. She reached down to grab the kids by the hands and then dragged them toward the door.

I hustled after them as the kids howled in protest and the librarians glared at us.

Once outside, Trina waited until I caught up to them. She took a deep breath but didn’t say anything.

Her eyes looked shiny. Was she trying not to cry? Where was Alex when I needed him? Weepy chicks were his specialty.

“So,” she said, taking a deep breath. She raised her wrist to her nose and sniffed.

This chick was all kinds of crazy.

“We need to discuss appropriate behavior.” Trina glared at Gilly, who ignored her, humming loudly and hopping across a faded hopscotch on the sidewalk.

“It’s not nice to make fun of other people,” Trina continued. “Especially in a public setting.”

Gilly stopped hopscotching and eyed Trina warily. “The library is public?”

Trina glanced at me like she wanted my help. But with what?

“Yes.” Trina sighed, looking at me with annoyance. “Anywhere outside of your house is public.”

Gilly started hopping again. “At least I kept my clothes on.”

Max started hopping next to Gilly. “I want to go back inside and get some books.”

Trina glanced at me, but I still couldn’t figure out what she wanted me to do. I’d have to wing it.

“So we have snacks in the car, right?” I shot her my best grin, but she just tugged at her hair in frustration. I usually didn’t like short hair on girls, but it wasn’t terrible on Trina. She reminded me of an anime character, especially with her big eyes. I looked away. I needed to get a grip.

She huffed an exasperated sigh. “We’ve got apple slices and crackers. Let’s eat, then we’ll go back inside and get books.”