“There’s room at the table, ladies.” Tyler croons in a sexy voice. “Come and join us.”
I roll my eyes, but when I glance at June, she nods and has a giant smile on her face. I don’t blame her. The Holy Trinity of LHS football is sitting at my kitchen table, and none of them are wearing shirts. It’s the perfect Snapchat moment. The three most popular guys in school—jeez, lucky me. Tyler scoots over, patting the chair next to him and winking at June. She giggles and practically runs to the chair. Ford scoots over on the bench, making room for me. He smiles, making his eyes crinkle, and my insides do a happy dance. He puts an arm around me, kissing my cheek. “Good morning, Hanny.”
“Good morning.” I glance across the table at Hank and Scotty and almost spill my glass of milk. “Where are your shirts?” I scold, looking at the boys.
“None of the other guys are wearing shirts.” Hank shrugs like it’s no big deal.
“Yeah, if they don’t have to wear shirts. Neither do I,” Scotty says, puffing out his chest.
There’s a round of snickers and covered-up laughs from everyone at the table. “If you’re going to be like, then I don’t have to wear a shirt at the table either. Should I take my shirt off?”
The boys look at me for a couple of seconds, thinking. Scotty just shrugs, and Hanks says, “sure.” I glance across the table at Jack for a little help.
“How is it that seven-year-olds can best you?” He shakes his head.
I raise my eyebrows at him. “The only way they best me is if Idon’ttake off my shirt.”
Ford’s hand covers my thigh, giving it a light squeeze.
Jack sets down his silverware. “Okay, I dare—”
“Nope,” Ford interrupts. “Don’t dare her. You’ll be sorry. I won’t be sorry, but you’ll be sorry.”
“I say dare her.” Tyler looks from me to Jack.
June giggles. “This is the best time I’ve had in months.”
I stare at her in bewilderment. “How can you say that? You just got home from Spain.”
“I lived with my parents and two sets of grandparents for three months. I was the youngest person there by twenty years. This is awesome.”
“Yeah, my dreams come true,” I mutter, taking a bite of my waffle.
Ford leans in, pushing my curls behind my ear. “This is one of my dreams, only with fewer people.”
I give him a side glance and then pick up my fork full of waffles and shove it in my mouth. It doesn’t deter him, and he leans in, giving me a quick kiss. My heart flip-flops in my chest, and the urge to giggle bubbles up from nowhere. If my mouth wasn’t full of food, I would.
“So, are you two back together?” Jack asks, pointing his fork at us.
We look at each other and then at Jack and together say, “no.”
The entire table looks at us like our heads have just rolled off our bodies.
“You could have fooled me.” Tyler smiles.
“What’s going on?” Jack cocks an eyebrow.
“It’s complicated,” Ford says, stretching his arm behind my chair.
“We’re just trying to figure everything out.” The last thing I want to discuss this morning is my relationship with Ford. The fact is, we are together. I don’t want to be with anyone but Ford. It’s just that we haven’t really had the time to sit down and talk about everything. I need to change the subject. “Did you know there’s a fan website for the three of you?”
“What?” Ford scrunches his forehead.
“You’re joking, right?” Jack mumbles around a mouthful of waffles.
“Does Clark know how to joke?” Tyler asks.
I lean forward, looking down the table at him. “Knock, knock.”
