Page 17 of By the Book

I pull my girls into the kitchen, desperate for any semblance of privacy for whatever is about to come out of their mouths.

“Tripp is here,” Wren whisper-shouts, looking over at him. He graciously picks a book up and moves to the bay window. I’d bet that he’s doing more listening than reading, but I appreciate the attempt at giving us space.

“Did he come to tell you about your shop? Wait, have you heard about it at all?” Stevie asks hurriedly.

“I was actually there when it happened?—"

“Oh my gosh!”

“You were there?”

“What happened? Did you see them?”

I shake my head, focusing on the last question. “I hid in my office.”

“That is terrifying. Are you okay?” Stevie asks, her eyes wide.

“I’m fine,” I reply, not in the mood to be emotional all over again. My friends give me a questioning look but don’t press the subject.

“If you were there,” Wren processes, “Tripp isn’t here to break the news.” All three of them look his way again, as if having forgotten about his presence. I couldn’t imagine being anything other than hyper aware of Tripp Forester.

“After getting everything wrapped up there, Tripp informed me that…he’s staying here tonight.”

“Oh my gosh,” Wren exclaims at full volume this time.

“Quiet!” My god, if Tripp hears them go on about this, I’ll be mortified.

They huddle closer to me, and I steal a glance over my shoulder to make sure he’s still “reading.” My friends look his way as well, and I can only imagine how obvious we look staring at him from the corner of the kitchen. Ducking her head so she’s nearly resting her forehead against mine, Wren drops the volume of her voice once again.

“Ivy, he is so worried about you that he wants to stay over. This is perfect.”

“Why would it be perfect?”

“This is not in his job description; he clearly cares so much for you. Look, you have been in love with that man for as long as you’ve known him. This is finally the time to do something about it!”

“Wren,” I scold, heat licking the back of my neck at her casual use of the wordlovewith Tripp in ear shot. “No way. I can never do something about it. He’s only nice to me because of Wes. The rejection will be humiliating and heartbreaking. And then myfamily will pick him over me, and I’ll have to be adopted by one of your families for holidays and gatherings.”

“Okay right,” Poppy snorts, a grin spreading across her face. “That man is not here right now because of Wes.”

“Yes, agreed!”

“Every guy knows that a brother would be pissed his friend is having a sleepover with his little sister,” Stevie adds. “It’s like—in their bro code.”

“Bro code?” I snort. But even still, that nagging thrill of hope surges within me. I can’t fathom acting on my crush as Wren suggested, but maybe they’re right. He cares about me for me. Not because I’m his friend’s sister. He did mention having his reasons for being here, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to find out what those are.

“Well, we are going to get out of here. Immediately,” Poppy says, motioning for our friends to move to the door with her.

“Call us tomorrow. We are going to be here for you about everything,” Stevie instructs as Poppy maneuvers her around the kitchen counter.

Tripp glances up from the book when we come back into the room, a casual look on his face. I swear he just heard everything, but his expression gives nothing away.

“Tripp, we’re trusting you to take care of our girl tonight,” Poppy tells him, tone thick with innuendo. Wren pushes her towards the door with a smirk, clearly amused by the way they are mortifying me.

“Ivy knows I’d do anything for her,” he replies, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes as they lock on me.

“Oh my god,” Wren mouths. Her back is turned to him, and she clutches at her chest in an exaggerated motion.

I hardly notice, though. Instead, I hold his gaze, his words hanging in the charged air between us.

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