Page 96 of The One With the Mountain Man

Travis's eyes went round and for a second I was sure he was going to clock me the way I clocked him at the TBR Pile. "And he broke Joanne's heart. He doesn't deserve to breathe her air."

"I agree. But isn't that her choice?"

"I'm going to murder you if you don't stop this shit."

He actually might if I kept pushing his buttons. "If you need me, you know all you have to do is ask. But maybe we should go back to playing poker. Joanne is at that dinner and she's nowhere near Noah right now."

Travis grumbled a bunch, but he followed me back inside. Scottie made eye contact and I nodded to let him know I'd gotten the dirt.

He began shuffling as we took our seats. "Wait until I tell you what the LBNs said at dinner the other night."

"Who the fuck are the LBNs?" Travis snorted.

At least I wasn't the only one who was clueless.

Scottie rolled his eyes. "Little Book Nerds. LBNs."

He seemed almost fond of the group...which couldn't be right. "Wait, even Sharon and Maeve?"

"Fuck no! The M&Ms have their own designation. If I could just get them to leave me the fuck alone. Or talk about murders fifty percent less!" He shivered and made a face.

M for Maeve made sense, but Sharon didn't have an M in her name. "M&Ms?"

That earned me another eye roll. "Murderous and Meddling."

"Jesus, Scottie. You're starting to sound just like them!" Travis muttered.

"What?" Scottie said, indignation singing his voice. "Sharon isn't the only one who can acronym people in this town!"

"I mean, they're good acronyms." Marley was going to love this.

Scottie shrugged. "The LBNs are great. I don't mind when Aviana stops by, or Harrison brings by bottles of wine. We had a dinner party and I think we're going to make it a monthly thing."

"Fucking domestic bliss," Digger muttered.

I thought it sounded nice. Friends. Rituals. Traditions. All things I left behind and the longer I was home and happy with Marley, the more I realized I missed it.

"So, what did they say at this dinner of yours?" I prompted. Would we be invited to the next one now that Marley was part of the book clubs?

"Apparently Reesa, the daycare owner, was seen talking to Thomas DeGroot, from the Lodge, and it was pretty heated. The LBNs have concocted a star-crossed lovers scenario."

Travis stared at Scottie with one eyebrow cocked. "Are you fucking with us right now? Are you becoming one of them? Gossiping about romances you know nothing about?"

Scottie finished dealing our hole cards and made us place our bets before he answered. "They're not lovers. Past, present, or future. Here comes the flop." He turned over three cards in the middle of the table. "They’re cousins."

No one bothered with the cards or bets. Instead, we all stared at Scottie. He might not have gone full Sharon, but he was straying close to the line.

"Look, I hear a hell of a lot more at the bar than I ever repeat. And you know how much I hate DeGroot for poaching all my recipes. Let me have this."

"Okay," Travis sat back, "let it out. We're a safe space, buddy."

Digger took a sip of his beer to cover his laugh and I did the same. "They’re cousins. So what?"

Scottie shrugged. "I dunno. Just...why did they both move to the area but never mention they're related? Why are they fighting? There has to be a reason."

"Maybe they murdered their grandparents and are on the run," Digger teased.

"Stop with the murder!" Scottie hung his head. "Never mind. You are no fun to gossip with. I'll never do it again."

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