Aspen gaped at him. “Please tell me you weren’t the one to tell them.”
“What? No.” Jack gave her a perfectly offended look. “I am like, the ultimate bro. I’d never to that. She was walking around like a zombie because of her broken ribs, and she had a fuckingepicshiner.”
“Oh, no,” Eve murmured while Aspen and Lydia both cracked up at the image Jack had painted.
“Thank you,Eve,” Kit said, stressing Eve’s name as she glared at the rest of the table, “for actually caring that I was hurt.” She jabbed a finger at Aspen. “You should take a note from your girlfriend and not be such an asshole.”
Aspen snorted and flipped her off. “You shouldn’t catch an edge and go all Captain Marvel into a tree.”
“Please, I am way more butch than Brie Larson.”
“You are. But she is totally hot, though,” Lydia chimed in. She surveyed the group with an arched brow and challenged, “Am I wrong?”
Eve chuckled and joined the rest of the table in shaking her head to say that Lydia was not at all wrong in her assessment. Although, she had a feeling Aspen would look even hotter in a tank top than Brie did in the movie.
Jack clearly had a death wish, because he told Kit, “You’d need to lift more—likea lotmore—to get her muscles though.Hey, I know!” He grinned impishly. “Maybe Aspen could give you some tips.”
Aspen snorted. “Leave me out of this, dude. And I’m honestly offended that this is the first I’m hearing of this story, by the way.”
“Like I said, I am abro,” Jack reiterated, thumping his chest twice with his fist as he threw a supportive wink at Kit.
Eve huffed a laugh when Aspen retorted, sotto voce so it’d stay just between them, “He says ‘bro’ like it’s a good thing.”
“And I don’t need muscles,” Kit argued. “I’ve gotstamina.”
“She does have that,” Lydia agreed.
“Eww,” Jack whined. “Isodid not need to know that.”
Eve smiled and brushed a kiss over Aspen’s ear. “You have both,” she whispered.
The smile Aspen gave her before she kissed her was bright enough to light up the whole room. Eve sighed as she cradled Aspen’s jaw to hold her close and extend the kiss when Aspen began to pull away, and she sighed happily when, after a few more moments, Aspen broke the kiss with a light peck to her lips.
“Christ, you two are nauseatingly adorable,” Lydia grumbled, sounding thoroughly delighted by the fact. She winked at them and added, “I know I said this the other night, but damn, Eve, so many congrats to you on the upgrade.”
“Oh, for sure,” Kit barked out a laugh. “But I wanna know what she said to get that kiss.”
“You don’t want to know,” Aspen sassed.
Eve smiled and rubbed Aspen’s thigh. “You really don’t,” she confirmed as their server returned with the check.
“This one’s on me, girls,” Kit said as she tapped her black AmEx to the handheld card reader the server held out without bothering to look at the total displayed on the screen. “So, who’s up for a hike?”
“You were serious about that?” Lydia whined.
Kit looked offended. “Cardio is good for the brain.”
“And the fresh air is, too,” Aspen added.
“Not. Helping.” Lydia jabbed a finger toward Aspen for emphasis.
“Come on, it’ll help flush what’s left of the alcohol in our systems before we reload tonight,” Kit cajoled.
“Speaking of…” Jack wagged a finger at Eve and Aspen. “Where were you two last night?”
Eve tensed at the reminder of how they’d blown off dinner the night before—she’d been having so much fun she’d genuinely forgotten about it.
Aspen, sensing her distress, rubbed her shoulder reassuringly as she replied, “We decided to stay in and enjoy a little us time.”
