Page 5 of Drop the Mitts

“Yeah.” Country started up the steps behind him, but André turned and waved him off.

“It was a joke. Geez.” He turned to look back over his shoulder and winked at Jenna. “But even you wouldn’t complain.”

She glared at him, then blew out a breath and turned to Grace. “He’s always like that. Just ignore him.”

André grinned as he laid Grace’s blazer over the seat back beside his and set her purse on the upholstery. Perfect. He hadn’t triggered any alarm bells.

At least not with Jenna.

He barely had his butt in his seat before the chirping started.

Curtis leaned forward from the row behind. “So, uh . . . you want to tell us what that was?”

Suraj grinned and crowded in from the left. “The moment she walked in? You looked like a rookie getting his first shift in the show. Wide-eyed. Breathless. A little sweaty.”

André rolled his shoulders back. “Just the curry I had for lunch.”

Brett, who’d just taken a bite of nachos, finally swallowed and grinned. “Bud, I haven’t seen you move that fast since you noticed Fly standing behind you in the showers.”

André snorted, stealing one of Brett’s nachos just to chap his ass. “I didn’t know him then. Now, I’d consider it.”

Country sat down with an exhale just as Jenna appeared in the aisle. She crouched, bracing herself on his knees. “You planned this, didn’t you?” Country started to shake his head, but Jenna didn’t pause for half a second. “Brett? Suraj? Curtis? All in committed relationships. You told me you were inviting the guys?—”

“It’s not my fault they were the only ones who said yes!” Country threw out his hands, and Jenna motioned for him to lower his voice. “I tried to get Ryan and Aelin to bring the girls, but they had some commitment at the school.”

“I promised Grace there would be no single guys hitting on her.”

André scoffed. “Why are you looking at me like that? You brought a guest, and I acted like a gentleman. Can we no longer help a woman without her thinking we’re trying to sleep with her?” He nudged Country. “What’s the opposite of misogy?—”

“Ugh, you two are the worst.” She pushed up from Country’s lap and pointed at Grace’s jacket. “I’m telling her she doesn’t have to sit there.”

André shrugged, trying to keep the grin off his face. “I think Grace is a grown woman?—”

“So nice of you to notice.” Grace dropped to the step behind Jenna, one hand holding her plate and the other a full cup ofbeer. The foam slipped over the side of her cup, dripping over her fingers. “Anything else you’d like to discuss? Bone density, cholesterol levels?”

Jenna stepped back. “I was just telling André it was presumptuous to put your things in the seat next to him.”

“It was.” Grace cocked her head to the side. “I’m not going to sleep with you. If that’s what you were hoping for.”

Suraj snorted behind him, and Country’s eyes flew wide.

André ’s grin widened as he gestured to the purse chair. “Damn, Grace, you sure know how to crush a man’s dreams. I was already mentally designing our wedding invitations.”

Brett choked on his soda. Country just shook his head like he regretted every decision that had led to this moment, avoiding Jenna’s eyes like the plague.

Grace didn’t so much as blink. “Let me guess. Black tie affair, open bar, you show up late if you show up at all?—”

“Why wouldn’t I show up?”

She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t exude ‘husband material.’”

André put a hand to his heart. “I feel so seen.”

Grace wet her lips, then slid past Jenna and Country. She paused when she stood directly in front of André, the waistband of her hot-ass pants brushing his thighs. “I’m too old for you.” She looked up into his eyes, her jaw set.

“That sounds like a limiting belief.”

Grace released a small puff of air, slid past, picked up her purse, and sat.

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