“You’re hilarious.” I stand next to him again. “Matthew and I have gone out a few times. It’s nothing new.”
“SoMatthewunderstands he could be crushed at any given time?”
I bump Drake with my shoulder. He humors me by pretending to be knocked off balance.
“We’re not serious,” I say, thinking about how just un-serious my thing with Matthew really is—which is why it works out perfectly. I glance down at my phone and spot a text from Astrid. “I need to get out of here. I have a few errands to run before I meet my friends for dinner.”
Drake opens the door and waits for me to exit first. Once in the hallway, we face each other. His smile lifts mine as Juni makes her way around us, muttering something under her breath that has her shaking her head.
“Don’t forget to check your tetanus shot records,” he says.
“Yes, Daddy.”
His blue eyes darken, resembling a raging storm.
I give him a sweet, innocent smile and leave with the upper hand.
CHAPTER
THREE
Gianna
“Have I ever told you two how much I appreciate that you’re not completely unhinged?” I slide into my usual seat beside Audrey. “Because if I haven’t, let me do it now.”
“Bad day?” Astrid asks from across the table.
I plunk my tote next to her purse on the empty chair to my left. “No, I had a great day, actually, and we can get into that later. But I’ve just spent an hour and a half haggling with a woman online about the price of an old coat tree. I need a stiff drink.” I sigh. “A stiff cock wouldn’t hurt, either.”
Audrey’s cheeks match the color of her blush-pink cardigan.
I settle in my seat, attempting to let go of the stress saddling my shoulders, and listen to their banter about the music playing overhead. It’s opera, so I have nothing to add to the conversation. The only music I understand usually includes cowboy boots. When we first discovered Stupey’s, I found their switch to opera music in the evenings to be a bit disturbing. Like …what the heck?Now, though, I kind of like it. I pretend I’m the main character in an action movie and the bad guys are about to come in … and I save the day.
Naturally.
Kim, our favorite server, slides up to the table and hands me a fruit-laden sangria. “Hey, Gianna! The girls said you were coming, so I figured you’d want your usual.”
“You know me so well,” I say, taking the drink from her.
“Sorry that this took a second, Astrid,” Kim says, handing her a beer. “Do you mind if I come back and get your order? I have a table being a giant pain in my ass, and they’re over there signaling for me again.”
“Go do what you need to do,” Audrey says. “We’re just catching up. We’re in no rush.”
Kim’s shoulders sag. “Thank you. I’ll be right back.”
“A beer?” I point a freshly manicured nail at Astrid as Kim scurries away. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“Shut up,” she says, taking a sip.
“You’ve spent far too much time in Sugar Creek if you’re ordering a beer,” I joke. “The next thing you know, you’ll be hunting wild game for dinner.”
“I can’t help it. It’s all the guys drink on the ranch, and it’s the only thing the bar in Sugar Creek always has in stock. I love it out of necessity.”
Astrid happily munches on a piece of bread like she hasn’t a care in the world. Funny what a good dick can do for a girl.
Her relationship with rugby pro Gray Adler has been an interesting study—and it proves my theory on love. They utterly despised each other when they first met. I actually considered that I might have to bail Astrid out of jail a few times. It got so bad that I even threatened the guy with a Taser while sitting in this exact chair, coincidentally. But somewhere down the line, they worked through their differences—and theychoseto commit. They weren’t sprinkled with fairy dust that turned their pupils into flashing hearts. They decided to love each other.
If more people realized that was how this works, the world would be a better place.
