“I’m probably Phoebe, not going to lie.” Callie shrugs as she takes another bite of her taco.
“That seems about right. You are the wackiest one of the bunch.”
“Lauren could be a good Monica.” Olivia points her taco in Lauren’s direction. “She’s got those type A genes.”
“Hey! It’s not like I’m busting out a little vacuum to vacuum my big vacuum,” Lauren argues.
“Actually, I’ve seen her do that,” I stage-whisper to Olivia, who bursts out laughing.
Lauren glares at me. “If I’m Monica, I’d end up with whoever our Chandler is, Jax or Rhett.” Lauren scrunches her nose.
“It’s perfect! Jax can be Chandler,” Callie announces, smiling with pride until she sees almost everyone at the table giving her a look. “I mean, yeah, we might have to scratch this wholeFriendsidea. It just got weird.”
“What aboutHow I Met Your Mother?” Lauren offers. “There are five of them. That fits our group better.”
We go on like this for a while, and Olivia was right, it is cool to have a group of friends together, enjoying food and good conversation, even if we didn’t sit down to eat until almost eleven in the evening. It’s been a while since I’ve had something like this. Charlie left a few years ago, and I haven’t had a good friend since then.
By the end of the night, I even feel like Rhett isn’t quite as scary as he once seemed. He gives me a handshake and a smile as he leaves, whispering, “I like you a lot better when you’re hitting on Lauren instead of my girl.” His reference to last July when I kind of flirted with Olivia at the Long Neck takes me a while to pick up on.
I step back with wide eyes, trying to figure out how todeny his accusation.
“It’s so obvious.” He smirks. “And Olivia thinks she’s better at keeping secrets than she is.”
Finally, I admit, “I’m sorry. I never meant to step on toes.”
He shakes his head. “It’s okay. I get it now.”
“Get what?”
“You were afraid to let yourself love her. I’ve been there before.” He nudges me in the side with his elbow, leaning in. “It gets so much better when you’re both all in.”
“We are.”
He gives me a knowing look. “Keeping your relationship a secret is not going all in.”
I hardly slept last night after Rhett made his stupid little comment. It was impossible to ignore the image of Lauren leaping from my arms when her dad was coming and then the feeling of her moving from my grasp when she thought Rhett might be watching us.
But what does he know? He’s not the one in the relationship. Only Lauren and I know what we mean to each other, and we both adore one another.Right?
When her alarm goes off and she stirs awake, she presses gentle kisses along my collarbone and neck until she reaches my lips, whispering, “Good morning. Are you ready?”
“Of course.”
“Good, because this timeIhave a surprise foryou.” She pauses, frowning as she takes me in. “What’s wrong? Are you not excited about my surprise?”
“Of course I am.” I force a smile on my face, which isn’ttoo difficult to do when I’m in her presence. I press a kiss to her forehead to further reassure her.
“We gotta hurry if we’re going to catch the sunrise.” She’s glowing as she bounds out of bed, and it continues to melt away any concern I had about Rhett’s words.He’s not us. He doesn’t know us.
Chapter Thirty
Lauren
Once Luckyand Charlie’s horse, Tex, are tacked up, we head out onto the trails, silence falling over us for most of the way up. I’m grateful for the quiet company. It allows me to enjoy this moment with someone I care for deeply while still getting to soak up the feeling of riding Lucky for a reason besides work for the first time in years.
When we’re about five minutes from the end of the trail, I break the silence. “My dad and I used to come out here every Sunday before family breakfast.”
“That sounds nice. Why’d you stop?”
