“Lu Lu can feed ’em to me so I don’t drop any,” he taunts.
“Knock it off,” Jude warns, but I’m not sure why. This is level one Sam. Harmless.
“You did this,” I mouth to Jude, watching his playful grin return. He taps the side of his head and subtly points at me.A kiss on the head. That was all for me.
I watch with full-on jealousy as he hugs Aunt Judy while we all say our goodbyes and end the call.
“Sam, that was low.”
He wraps his arms around me with less force than his usual attack hug. “I know. But I like watchin’ my theory prove itself,” he says with a satisfied sigh.
“What theory?”
“The theory that you’ll do anything for him.” His hug tightens, but I don’t wiggle away like I usually do.
“Obviously, I’d do anything for you too since I just agreed to this nonsense,” I argue.
“You doa lotfor me, but I wouldn’t have won this time.”
“You called Aunt Judy on me! How was that fair?” I lightly pop his arm.
“I never play fair, Smalls. Don’t ya know me at all?” We laugh for a minute, and he kisses my head with a loud smack like someone else does. “I heard you needed that.”
“I’ll bet you did.” I squint my eyes, knowing he’s mimicking Jude.
“Cross my heart.” He holds up his phone to show me the message banner across his screen.
Danny:Kiss her head for me. Then leave and stop smothering her.
I stare at the message until my eyes blur, and Sam’s too quiet for my comfort.
“I’m in a mess, Sammy,” I say almost in a whisper.
“I know. But we’re gonna have fun tomorrow, and y’all are gonna figure it out. Sleep in and take your time. I’ll stay at Cade’s tonight, and we’ll leave around three tomorrow afternoon. Go call him.” He stands and pulls me off the couch. “Don’t worry about the gig. Just follow my lead and do what we always do. The crowd’s gonna love you.”
The wordcrowdis not a word I want to hear.
“Everyone lovesyou. I plan to remain anonymous,” I tell him.
“We’ll see.”
“You’re over a foot taller than me. I can be invisible.”
“I guess we’ll find out. Get some sleep.” We slap hands and bump shoulders, or more like my shoulder to his elbow. “Love you, Lu Lu. I’ll text you when I’m on my way tomorrow.”
“Love you too. Be safe.”
“I will. Go call your man and distract him from being mad at me.”
“Why would he be mad?” I ask, knowing we’ll start talking all over again, and he grins because I didn’t correct him.
“The couch? I had my arm around you, and one time I, you know … Ileaned.Also, theyou can feed me Skittlescomment. He was not happy.” He laughs again, so proud to be a menace.
“Really? I don’t even notice that stuff. It’s just you.”
“Ouch.” He mock-stabs himself in the heart.
“I mean, you’re always like that,” I clarify.
