“And say what?” Zeke wonders. “Hey, bro, we love you, but your girlfriend’s a conniving bitch?”
“Maybe something a little nicer than that.”
“You could always talk to him,” Declan suggests.
“Me?” I choke. “I barely know Brooks; I’m not gonna tell him he deserves someone better. The only guy I’d be comfortable giving relationship advice to is Zeke.”
“That’s because deep down, you’re harboring strong feelings for me, dollface.” Zeke grins.
“You caught me.” I roll my eyes. “My love for you grows every day.”
“With the way you’re always coming onto my girlfriend, man, I’d think it’s you that’s harboring feelings.”
“Alright, man, you got me.” Zeke shoves the last of his fries into his mouth. “She knows I’ll be waiting for her when you screw this up.”
Zeke winks at me, and I laugh as he climbs over the back of the booth to the one behind us. Even though I know the place is empty, since it’s the middle of the day, I glance behind me to make sure no one’s sitting there.
“Now I’ve gotta scoot,” he continues. “I’ll see you guys back at the crib. Em, I’ll see you in my dreams.”
He leans forward and presses his lips to my head. Declan shoves him off me, and I laugh again.
Before I know it, our group has slowly dispersed, leaving just Declan and me in our usual booth.
“I like your friends,” I say, my head resting against his should.
“They’re our friends. I think they like you more than me anyway.”
“I like having a group of people who treat me like I’m normal.”
He kisses my head. “You are normal.”
“Could you tell my mom that?”
He looks down at me, and I sit up, so I’m forced to look at him.
“She still giving you shit?”
“She’s called me like every day since I was back there for Christmas.” I groan. “She says that she thinks it’s best for me to come back home.”
“You have three semesters left… why would you move back home?”
“That’s what I said, but there’s no making sense when it comes to my mother.”
“I guess our moms have something in common after all,” he whispers.
“She’s still with your dad?”
“He moved back home.”
“And Brinley?”
“Still doesn’t know about the other woman. I think she’s starting to get suspicious, though, because I’ve been dodging my mom’s calls.”
I rest my chin on his shoulder and grin up at him.
“Gotta love parents.”
“At least I got you.”
