Breathe (GirlxGirl)

Chapter 33 - Out With It

Faith smiled and placed her phone back on the kitchen counter. She proceeded to cut another piece of pie and place it on a small plate. A masculine hand appeared out of the corner of her eye and slicked a finger through the freshly whipped cream. Instinctively, Faith smacked and swatted the hand away from the bowl.

"Blake! Wait like everyone else."

Blake popped his finger in his mouth quickly. After removing his finger from his mouth, he said, "So, how's it going at the Reiley's?"

"Pfft! How do you know that was from Sam?" she replied.

Blake sauntered back to the table, eyebrows raised. "Only one person can give you 'that smile' cousin. Your whole face lights up." Blake sat back in his chair, took his fork and postured for a plate in front of him with a fist holding his fork upright on the table.

"He's right. You wear it on your sleeve. That girl has definitely captured your heart."

"OK. Yes. That was Sam. She didn't say anything about how it's going. She didn't say much actually." Faith blushed.

"Well, she certainly said enough to make you smile from ear to ear and turn your cheeks all red."

"So true dude." Blake replied followed by a fist bump with his empty hand. "Ha. See. I told you."

Faith bantered back waving the triangular pie spatula at the table, "Mike, don't encourage him. He's already cocky enough. Erin, I'm so glad you could come and at least even the odds."

The woman giggled, "Well, I think he's in good company with my brother here. I'm glad I could come help a fellow woman out. Plus, I get to meet the infamous Faith Matthews Mike's been talking about."

Faith brought two pieces of pie to the table. She sat one down in front of Erin as she waved the other between Mike and Blake. Blake excitedly readied his fork. Faith then place the piece of pie in front of Mike. Blake's face dropped in disappointment. Faith laughed.

"I know you better Blake. By the time I get back with the other pieces, you'd be done with yours."

After returning with two more pieces, Faith sat across from Blake still a hold of the two plates. Faith slid his pie to him across the table. Blake perked up. His face beamed like a kid on Christmas morning.

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Samantha stepped across the threshold, bottle of Zinfandel in hand as her father held the door. She could feel her heart beating heavily against the wall of her chest. Upon hearing the door to the garage close, Sandra spoke.

"Well, I was wondering if you had to drive to the Liquor store and got lost." She practically scolded.

Samuel took the bottle from Sam's hand, placed it on the counter and centered the bottle opener over the cork. "No dear. We got a little side tracked with a conversation. I guess I'm guilty of capturing a little one-on-one time with our daughter here." He finished as he sent Sam a wink just before the sound of the cork being released from the bottle was heard. "Who wants more wine?" He asked approaching the table. Sandra held out her glass with intention. Samuel leaned to her and gave a quick kiss on the cheek and began to pour the wine. "Of course my love. Anyone else?"

Bri, Miguel and Stephen finished the bottle between their glasses. Sam Sr. scooted his chair to the table and took ahold of Samantha's hand. "You know, Sam and I actually had quite a nice chat in the garage."

Sam could feel the heat spreading through her face. She felt like she could throw up at any moment, either from the lump in her throat or from the fear overtaking her. She felt another reassuring hand on her knee from under the table. Samantha snapped her head left in response as if hearing a gunshot. Looking into Sam's wide eyes, Dana could nearly feel the panic emanating from Sam. The vibration under her hand gave an indication of just how nervous Samantha was. Dana gave a soft smile and took an over-exaggerated breath as Sam mirrored her. She then felt a large gentle hand come to rest on her right shoulder. Again, Sam whipped her head to her right. She was met by the soft brown eyes she inherited.