“Maybe then people will start paying attention to them,” he says, and joins me to stretch. When he comes eye level, his head angles to the side, and his eyes narrow on me.
“What?” I snap.
“Something's different.” He stares at me, rolling over in the turf so he’s on his knees, and he can stretch out his groin.
“Nothing’s different.” I move into the grass on my back and start to warm up my hips. Boone doesn’t take that answer, though; he keeps inspecting me like he’s going to find something physically wrong with me. “Can you fuck off?” I groan as my hip pops.
“Lovey,” he calls, “come here.”
Judd jogs over toward us, his hair cut shorter now that he’s back on duty full-time. He looks between the two of us with a brow raised. “What?”
“Tell me you see it?” Boone points to me as Judd sinks into a squat.
They look like idiots, heads tilted, eyes narrowed.
“You’re not going to find anything,” I grumble.
“He got laid,” Judd says, a wicked smile forming on his face, and Boone lights up like a Christmas tree.
“I did not.” I shake my head.Not yet. But damn does she make it hard to take things slow.All I can think about is how good it felt to have her in my lap.
“You did!” Boone snaps his fingers at me. “It was Reaper, wasn’t it? Took you long enough.”
“I didn’t sleep with Rhea, shut up.” I stare him down, but he’s riled up today and looking for buttons to push.
“Oh, now it’sRhea…” Boone sings her name, and Judd whistles. “So whatdidhappen then?” They’re both watching me like I’m about to reveal some massive secret.
“There’s been… kissing,” I admit, and both of them start laughing at me.
“That’s it? That’s what you’re hiding from us? Kissing!” Judd’s accent is thick and breathy as he doubles over on his side. “Mate, you could have lied. We’d be none the wiser.”
“Why would I lie?” I say, completely unimpressed.
“Was it good?” Boone asks next.
“It’s none of your business, is what it was.” I push off the ground as the ref blows the whistle to get the game started. Boone continues to broach the subject at every chance he gets, between whistles, at half, all through us getting our asses kicked in the second. I skipped my shower to avoid him, but he was waiting outside for me, ready for more fighting that carried on into the parking lot. I told him Judd could drive him home.
I had somewhere to be.
The Hollow is busy tonight, and after the rough game, I’m looking forward to a long shower and an even longer sleep. I adjust my bag as I push through the crowd toward the stairs. Sunday waves to me from behind the bar before turning back to customers with a smile on her face. Everything is alright. For once.Try not to ruin it.
I push open the door and drop my bag on the floor with an echoing thud before raising my eyes to see Rhea sitting on the counter in one of her silly wrestling shirts, eating ice cream out of my container of vanilla.
“That’s mine.” I cross my arms, and she looks up at me with the spoon between her lips.
“You’re going to have to be more specific, Brighton,” she teases as I stride forward, kicking off my shoes as I go. “Uh oh, he didn’t put his sneakers away properly, I’m in trouble now,” she giggles, watching the clumsy execution. My adrenaline is still pumping from the game, and there’s something about a good workout that goes straight to my head. “You’re not going to do three loads of laundry before bed?”
“Nope.” I shake my head and slot myself between her legs. “I’m starving.”
She digs out a spoonful of ice cream and holds it out to me. It melts on my tongue, and I don’t take my eyes off her perfect face for a second. My chest squeezes at her soft smile as the spoon retreats, and she digs more out of the carton.
Is this what it feels like to be friends who kiss?
“How was your game?” she asks quietly.
“We got our asses kicked by the Cubs,” I tell her, and she pouts.
“They’re a tough team. You know if you switch up—”
