“That kind of language isn’t going to get you on his good side, either,” the woman says, cackling like a witch.
I stand and turn towards the woman walking through the Martín’s yard. She’s got dirty blonde hair piled on top of her head and a wide, devious smile across her face. She’s wearing a Shreveport Cyclones hoodie, leggings with mermaids, and polka dot rain boots.
“You must be Shawna,” I say, standing to greet her.
“The one and only,” she says, her sassy tone accentuating her Southern accent. Rolling her eyes exaggeratedly, she accepts my hand and pulls me in roughly. She smells like coffee and baked goods, which makes sense. Luc told me she owns a café and bookshop.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“I know.”
Immediately, I can tell that this woman takes no shit and gives zero fucks.
I love her already.
She matches my grin and wraps an arm through one of mine.
“Come on now, you and I have some gossiping to do and I don’t want Mr. Martín to know I’m canoodling with the enemy.”
I laugh out loud. “We definitely can’t have that.”
Shawna and I walk to the end of the property and along the fence line, where it dips downhill towards a small creek and backs up into some fields Luc told me were sugarcane that’s recently been harvested. She climbs up on the fence and sits down on the wooden railing, staring out at the vast fields of churned ground and stubble.
“Just wait until you come back in the summer. It’s hotter than hell, but the fields are gorgeous. Like a rolling sea of green.” She looks at me and tilts her head. “Almost the same color as your eyes, actually. Maybe that’s why he likes them so much.”
“Because they remind him of home?”
She shrugs. “Honestly, who knows what that man gets up to in his head. I can’t make sense of him sometimes. Twenty-oneyears of not taking an interest in nobody and then BAM, there you are.”
The way she’s studying me like some kind of anomaly has my face heating. And since when do I blush? That’s Luc’s thing, not mine!
“You love him.”
It’s not a question. It’s probably obvious to anyone paying attention. Still, I dip my head, in case she actually needs the confirmation.
“Good. He’s going to need that when all this hiding explodes in y’all’s faces.”
A sardonic laugh huffs out of me. She’s not wrong. It’s unlikely this thing is going to stay under wraps if we’re going to keep going in any serious capacity. The way I feel about him, there’s no way I’m willing to give him up.
“I’m worried about how he’s going to handle it if, or when, more likely, our relationship comes out. He’s trying so hard to be cool with the press he’s getting from just the speculation, but once it’s officially out there? I don't think there's a way to prepare him for how insane it's going to get. And, well, I don't want to lose him. I'd give it all up if it were even an option, but..."
"You can't change who you are. Luc knows that. And likewise, you can't change who he is. But I have to say, the amount he's come out of his shell for you is pretty impressive. The fact that he's still in this, that he's willing to risk the publicity and brought you home to meet his family, it says a lot about how much he cares about you. Seriously? A fucking sex tape? The fact that he even went there at all is an entire conversation onits own, but that he hasn't noped out and run for the hills must mean he has it bad for you, Jesse Moore."
"I don't know how I got so lucky."
"Maybe it's the piercings."
If my eyes got any wider, they'd fall right out of my head. "You watched them?!"
"Well… yeah. My best friend just had all his business put out there for the whole world to see. It's part of my job to assess the damage and find out how bad it was."
"And?" Maybe I shouldn't ask, but I have to know.
"I mean, honestly…" Shawna shrugs and gives me a wry look of approval, followed by a slow clap. "As far as leaked nudes and sex tapes go, it could have been way worse. If it were my ass getting cream-pied on the internet, I'd barely be embarrassed about it."
"Luc was right," I say, laughing incredulously. "You really are something else."
"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you," she says, a glint of mischievous laughter in her eye. "But in all seriousness, what is the plan for when shit hits the fan?"
