Page 47 of Fine, Dork

I laughed out loud and gripped his hand. “J, you want me to beat him up for you, for me?”

“Oh my god, would you do that for me for yourself?”

“Absolutely.”

The waiter brought our food, and we attempted regular adult conversation while he arranged our plates and glasses.

“So, has anyone heard from Preston recently?” Jaxon asked.

Beckett raised his hand. “I have. I talked to him yesterday. He’s not great.”

The waiter spoke up. “Let me know if you need anything else. I’ll be back to check on you in a moment.”

I smiled up at him and said, “Thank you.” His eyes settled on my chest before flicking back up to meet mine. Jaxon saw. Fan-fucking-tastic.

After the waiter walked away, Jaxon leaned forward. “What happened to Preston?” He was clearly choosing to ignore the waiter checking me out. I loved the shit out of him for not pouting or flying into a jealous rage.

“Selena dumped his ass.” Lyla took a big bite of mashed potatoes and moaned. “So damn good!”

“Aw, baby. That’s what you say when—"

“Shut up.”

“Wait, when did Selena dump Preston, and why?” I asked, playing with the edge of my red cloth napkin.

“Like a week ago. She thought he was cheating, but he wasn’t.” Beckett cut into his steak and grinned. “Oooh yeah!”

Lyla snorted. “We have too many weird similarities between our reactions to food and sex.”

“They’re the two best things in the world. Nothing weird about it.” Beckett fed Lyla a bite of his steak, and she moaned too.

Jaxon and I watched them with raised eyebrows. “Do you guys need a minute?”

Beckett nodded, staring at Lyla’s tits. Lyla rolled her eyes and swallowed her bite of steak. “No. We had sex before we came.” Then she smirked. “We just moved in together.”

“Aw! Congrats, guys!” I grinned at my happy dumbass friends across the table. “Love is so damn cute.”

“Love is nauseating.” Lyla drained the last of her wine.

“Nauseating? Did our love make you pregnant, babe?” Beckett teased.

“Oh my god. That’s not what I meant.”

“Lyla, do you want to have my babies?”

“Ugh. No.” Lyla bit her lip and tried to hide her smile. “Maybe.”

The waiter returned to ask if we needed anything, and Jaxon subtly slid his arm around my shoulders, smiled up at the waiter, and said, “I think we’re good here. Thanks, man.” J maturely staked his claim, so unlike some of the hotheads I’d dated in the past. It was beyond refreshing.

After the waiter retreated, Lyla sighed and said, “This is unoriginal of us. Kinley, how did we both end up dating dudes from high school? So cliché!”

I laughed and laced my fingers through Jaxon’s under the table. “Maybe everything we needed has been staring us in the face since we were dumb kids.”

Lyla smirked at Beckett. “What if your boyfriend is still a dumb kid?”

“Then that makes you a pedophile. Ha!” Beckett playfully shoved Lyla’s shoulder, but it almost toppled her out of her chair. Beckett caught her arm before she fell, laughing so hard that he started wheezing. “Shit. Sorry baby.”

Lyla grinned and shook her head. “Case in point. Dumbass child.”

---