Page 29 of The Love Playbook

Brynn smashes her mouth together, and I’m no expert, but I think she’s stifling a laugh.

“So, how exactly do you plan on wooing the cynical Charlotte Baker?” he asks.

“That’s where I need help,” I say, sliding my phone from the pocket of my joggers. “I already texted the guys in the group chat to get their input.”

“By boys, you mean,myboys?”

“Yes, the boys of Riverside, your sacred little clique,” I say with a roll of the eyes. “They’re the perfect ones to ask because somehow you all have bagged hot chicks. You’re whipped as fuck, but that’s beside the point.”

Jace grumbles something under his breath about not being whipped before he reaches for his phone off the nightstand and says, “Oh, this should be fun.”

“Hey, no fair!” Brynn peers over Jace’s shoulder to get a look at his phone. “Why am I not in the Riverside group chat?”

“Girls can’t be in the group chat, babe,” Jace says like it should be obvious.

“Why not? You’re my boyfriend, and one of those guys is my brother!” She points to the phone. “I think that automatically qualifies me for group-chat status.”

“Babe, if we let you join the group chat, then Mackenzie will want to join. And then we’d have to allow Skylar and Lane in, too. We can’t have a bunch of chicks taking over the chat.”

Jace has point. Mackenzie is Atlas’ girlfriend while Skylar is dating Graham, and Teagan and Lane got together last year. They’re a close-knit group, and if one of the girls gets in on the group chat, all of them will insist on joining.

“I’m with Jace on this one,” I chime in, wincing at the answering scowl directed my way.

Jace reaches out and smoothes a hand down her hair. “Brynn, you know how much I love you, but these are the boys. Just like you need girl time, we need somewhere to talk guy talk without being judged.”

Brynn’s expression softens. “Fine. But I wanna see what they say about this.” She pokes him in the ribs for emphasis.

“Of course. I have zero plans of excluding you from this shit show,” Jace says as he scoots closer to her, and holds his phone out for her to see.

“SOS,” Brynn reads my text to the group chat out loud. “I need your help. I have to make someone fall in love with me, and they’re a tough shell to crack.” She snorts.

“I know what I asked, thank you.” I huff. “No need to read it back to me,” I say as I glance down at my screen and see the responses starting to roll in.

The first message is from Atlas, Riverside’s resident bad boy, turned lovesick fool.

ATLAS:

For clarification purposes, is the nut a dude or a chick?

TEAGAN:

Valid question. We’re not judging, and we’re here for you man, either way.

I scoff at Teagan’s response. He’s Brynn’s twin and the softie of the group, which is funny considering how feisty his sister is.

GRAHAM:

His silence is telling. Must be a dude.

TEAGAN:

Man, why didn’t you just say so?

ATLAS:

This explains a lot.

Hahaha. They think they’re so fucking funny.

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