Page 114 of Electric Kiss

She bent forward and reached under the table to clasp onto her bag.

“Does a bit of acting,” Gwen muttered mockingly and then closed her eyes on a slow blink. “You could have warned a girl.”

“The look on your face was priceless,” Freya said.

“It was kinda funny. Of all the responses I’ve had over the years, yours was the funniest and sweetest.”

“Was it the sob I let out? Or was it the bear hug I gave you like I’d known you my entire life? Or was it me quoting my favourite lines from my favourite film of yours?”

Gwen let out a noise of triumph and sat up, bringing her slouch bag onto her lap.

“Actually, please don’t remind me of this tomorrow, and I’ll fake not remembering,” she said and then hauled her slouch bag up onto her shoulder and then stood.

Then she wavered, and the girls giggled as if their sole purpose was to get Gwen smashed.

“I think we’ve initiated our newest girl posse member,” Freya declared.

“Oh no, we were too slow,” Heidi said and nodded towards the door.

“Holy smoke, are they all Turners?” Gwen asked as she stared, open-mouthed.

Freya looked to the door to see Archer, Jason, Nate and Keith come for them.

“No. The one smirking is Erica’s, the one giving the smouldering gaze at Heidi is Jason. Nate’s behind Archer grinning at Daisy, that’s her husband and then there’s Keith who I’m guessing is in lieu of my intended as we’re not touching until the wedding,” Freya said.

“Okay. There is definitely something in the water on Copper Island,” Gwen said.

“Sure is,” Erica said as she flattened herself against Archer, bounced on her tip toes and gave him a closed mouth kiss.

“Honey,” his voice rumbled when she went back down on flat feet.

“Thanks for coming,” she replied.

He was still looking down at her when he said, “Always.”

Then Archer swept his eyes across the five of them. “You all ready to go?”

“Yep,” Freya said.

“Okay,” Archer began his instructions. “Erica is with me, plus Jason and Heidi in the back of my buggy. Nate’s driving buggy number two with Daisy up front. Keith and recent addition, and then Freya, you’re at the back. Do not fall out,” he said. “Luke will have my arse if you’re hurt.”

“Gotcha. I’ve only had one drink. These are all the lushes,” Freya said.

“What?” Gwen shrieked.

“Oh yeah. This is Gwen and she’s now part of the girl posse. She’s going to be the new head teacher at the high school,” Freya said. “Which makes her my new boss. So we need to make sure she gets home safely.”

The men introduced themselves with a handshake each and then the group were on the move. No fireman’s lifts were necessary because the pub was so packed that there wasn’t a spare inch of floor to fall on.

Once they were outside in the fresh air, Freya took a long breath in and then out as she grinned at the girls.

“Thanks for a great night,” Freya said.

“Thanks for inviting me. I don’t know if I’ll be fit for anything tomorrow, but I had a fantastic night,” Gwen replied.

“You’re awesome, Gwendolyn Hoskins. Good women are hard to find, so we need to stick together,” Freya replied.

“You got that right,” Keith said.

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