“Well, if the council’s decided…” I mumble, standing and turning away from them.
The last time these three idiots ganged up on me like this, I nearly ended up with a tattoo of a majestic eagle—that looked more like a drunk pigeon—on my left ass cheek.
“Hey,” Cole says, his tone soft.
With a sigh, I turn back toward him. “What?”
“Would it really be so bad to find your person?” he asks, hearts practically etched into his irises.
Jake groans, saving me from having to do it. Maya’s great, but I swear Cole and his dog Goose would crawl into her skin if they could. They’re like an obsessive fan cult.
“Dude,” Jake spits out. “Don’t say shit like that. You sound like my mom.”
Cole shrugs. “Your mom found her person, too, so clearly we know what we’re talking about.”
“Want to know how many times my dad’s claimed he found ‘the one’?” Jake shoots back, folding his arms across his chest.He’s normally unshakable, but if there’s one topic that rattles him, it’s his dad.
Cole scratches his chin, compassion and caution in his expression. “You were the one who encouraged me to pursue Maya, and now she’s my future wife.”
This time rather than smacking Cole, Logan punches him in the arm. “Did you fucking look at rings and not tell me? I told you not to do that without me. You have no taste and no eye for that kind of stuff. You’d end up spending a hundred grand on a cubic zirconia and you wouldn’t even know it. I?—”
“Calm down.” Cole throws up his hands. “I just got Maya to agree to move in with me. Engagement isn’t happening anytime soon, bud,” he assures him. “Doesn’t mean I don’t know I’m going to marry her, though.”
“Oh.”
Before they can join forces against me, I stupidly announce, “I’m going on a date this Friday, so you can all calm down.”
By the pure shock written on my friend’s faces, I may as well have declared that I’m a vampire. Nobody blinks or breathes. They stand like that for several seconds, the only sound the Zamboni out on the ice.
“With Kennedy,” I add. Shit. It’s possible this information will put them into an even more elevated state of catatonic shock. “It’s the charity date she won. The one at the Copper Lantern?”
Logan springs into action, hopping from foot to foot like a bulky, blond leprechaun. “I knew it! I knew you’d go on the date. You stared at her butt all night long. Her butt may not be as good as mine, but as far as female butts go, it’s like an 8.83.”
Jake shakes his head, as if clearing away the cobwebs of confusion. “Wow. I didn’t think you’d actually go. Are you into her?”
“Why do you care?” I snarl. “Areyouinto her?”
The second the words are out, I jerk back, surprised by my accusation. The defensiveness came out of nowhere, sharp and possessive. The way my jaw clenches and my vision goes red doesn’t make sense. Hell, I only agreed to the date to get Sloane off my back after she kept hounding me.
Jake holds up his hands, examining me like I’m a threat and he might have to run to save himself. “Kennedy’s hot, but you know where I stand on relationships. And Maya would gut me if I hit it and quit it with her bestie.”
I sit back in my seat, forcing my shoulders down. “Maya wouldn’t have to. Kennedy would do it herself.”
Cole barks out a laugh, the sound cutting through the tension. As scathing as his sarcastic and not easily impressed girlfriend can be, she’s not a fighter. But her best friend is. She may be short, but she’s scrappy, and she doesn’t back down from anything or anyone.
Since Maya started dating Cole, Kennedy’s been a constant at postgame O’Leary’s hangouts. I witnessed her going toe to toe with a guy over whether cereal is a soup. She had three other people involved within minutes, all taking sides. She’s got opinions on everything and isn’t afraid to share them. Loudly and with hand gestures.
She’s also got these eyes that I swear see straight through the bullshit a person is trying to sell. There’s no performance with her. No walking on eggshells. She’s warm in a way I forgot people could be. Yeah, she’s sarcastic and stubborn and a little chaotic, but she’s genuine. She makes me think about things I’ve spent years ignoring.
Which is exactly why I avoid her like the plague.
Except now I’m going on a date with her.
Tomorrow.
Fuck.
CHAPTER SIX
