Page 24 of The Rules

“How about a frosty margarita?” Shawn asked, slurping his straw.

Before Cat could answer, Josh squeezed her shoulder, standing. “Come swim, Catia.”

Cat got up to follow him, holding his hand for the ten-foot walk to the pool. Something was definitely off with them, but it clearly wasn’t having any effect on their penchant for PDA.

“It’s like they’re still on their honeymoon,” Minnie said.

Shawn chuckled. “It’s been like that since they met.”

“I think they’re just adorable.” Minnie put her chin in her hands and sighed dreamily.

Dylan snorted a mocking laugh and sipped his beer.

“Stop it, Dylan,” Minnie said. “They’re happy. It makes me happy.”

“Christ. You’re such a romantic, Min. You know, love is just a chemical reaction in the brain to get the human race to procreate. It’s an illusion—like when your heart stops and you see your dead grandma telling you it’s not your time. All that lovey-dovey shit is just survival instinct.”

Dani narrowed her eyes. That was despondent even for him.

Minnie kicked him underneath the table. “Why are you such a spoilsport?”

Shawn laughed. “He just misses Josh.”

“Fuck off,” Dylan said mildly, but he did look a little forlorn.

Dani never could understand Dylan and Josh’s close friendship. They were such different people. Josh had a quietness about him like he was always contemplating something existential. Not that he wasn’t fun. He was laid back and laughed a lot and was the perfect counterbalance to Cat’s tightly-wound personality, but he took life seriously.

Dylan, on the other hand, was born to be a salesman, always talking, joking—he took being the life of the party seriously.

Whatever it was that fueled their Odd Couple friendship, Dani could relate to Dylan’s plight. When Cat and Josh were together it was like they were in this little bubble that no one else could breach. They genuinely wanted to be looking at, talking to, sitting next to each other no matter who else was in the room. And when you were the other person in the room, well, sometimes that sucked.

“Dylan’s right,” she said, sipping her fresh drink. “They’re Team Too Much.”

Minnie nudged her with her elbow. “You don’t really mean that.”

She looked over her shoulder to the pool. Cat had her arms around Josh’s neck, looking at the sky while the pool water sloshed around them. Josh was looking at Cat. He was always looking at Cat, watching her move with a permanent grin.

“I love them but at some point you have to wonder how long this obsession with each other can last.”

Dylan bumped her fist from across the table. “See, Dani-pie gets it.”

Shawn looked between the two of them, his eyes narrowed. “Maybe you two should spend less time together. Your negativity burns so much brighter side by side.”

Dylan laughed, but Dani felt her cheeks flush. Had they been spending a noticeable amount of time together? Was their exit from the reception more obvious than she thought? If so, that was going to make what she was going to propose a lot more dangerous. The others could never know about this arrangement if Dylan agreed.

She opened her mouth to dispute it, but the music changed and Shawn started drumming a solo on the wood of the picnic table, making Minnie laugh.

Dylan caught her eye and they shared a commiserating look. Maybe she’d imagined the whole thing.

Eight

Sometime after eleven, Josh stretchedhis arms above his head in an exaggeratedwell, that’s it for me, guysstretch. “I should take Sleeping Beauty here home,” he said, running his fingers through Cat’s ponytail and smiling at the side of her face. She’d been passed out in his lap since their private swim.

Dani caught Dylan’s gaze over Josh’s head, and he rolled his eyes. She rolled hers back then took out her phone and snapped a picture of Cat’s face smooshed against Josh’s thigh to post the next day.

“What’d you do to her, Josh?” Dylan said. “Kit Cat used to be fun before you married her up.”

Josh got himself out from under Cat and slapped his palm against Dylan’s. “I’ll come by in the morning and help you clean all this stuff up,” he said.

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