Page 55 of Bookworm
“You can crash at our house. You know my dad and Addy won’t care.”
“Good.” He bent and brushed his mouth gently across mine. “Because I don’t want to lose any time I’ve got with you, either.”
Chapter Sixteen
There was a standardized list of rules I had to recite before I went out with Addy and her friends.
Nowine for Addy. It gives her a killer hangover the next day.
Onlywine for Haylee. A few years ago when I visited, we did Taco Tuesday with margaritas and she was literally dancing on the tables.
Don’t get Enzo talking about computer programming or coding. She’ll hijack the rest of the night using words none of us understand.
Hit on at least one guy… because they’re all married and live vicariously through me and squeal in delight if I get a guy to buy us a round of drinks.
Although, this time, that last rule felt wildly inappropriate.
Even if Adam and I hadn’t quite specified ourexactstatus yet.
Besides, I didn’t want any ol’ guy to buy us drinks. There was only one guy I had on my mind lately. But on his measly professor salary, I wasn’t about to let him buy a round for us.
“How’s the book stuff going, Harper?”
Haylee’s question snapped me out of my thoughts, bringing my attention back to the bartop where Addy, Enzo, Haylee and I sat.
I dragged my finger down the droplets of water covering my sweating Aperol Spritz. If I was going to have a drink with these girls, then I needed to make sure it was half booze, half club soda. Especially since one of them was technically my stepmother, even if she was closer in age to me than my dad.
“I’m almost finished restoring it,” I answered honestly. As pungent as Jules’s urine was, it surprisingly didn’t take all that long to fix and get the smell out of the paper. Not nearly as long as I’d been concerned about.
Enzo tilted her head, her tattoo of a dragonfly at her collarbone pulsing with the movement. “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Yeah, of course it is,” I answered, pulling my spritz to my mouth for a long sip.
“Then why don’t you sound happy?” Haylee asked, concern tilting her eyes.
Leaning forward and resting her chin in her palm, Addy bounced her eyebrows at me. “That wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain high school sweetheart who’s back in the picture, would it?”
“Maybe,” I admitted.
“Oooooh!” All three girls squealed in their good-natured teasing way. I crumpled my napkin in my fist and lobbed it across the table at Addy.
It bounced off her shoulder. Giggling, she bent over to pick it up. “You know, just because this gig ends doesn’t mean youhave toleaveNew Hampshire. You can stay as long as you’d like. Rents around these parts are far cheaper than in London, anyway.”
