Page 2 of Lucky
Atlas slaps the table.“About fucking time.”
The congratulations roll out in a wave.Penn throws a crumpled napkin at him.King mimes a prayer.North raises his glass.
“Any plans for the proposal?”I ask.“I could film it for you.”
Foster rolls his eyes.“No thank you.I don’t want to end up a trending video.”He sips his drink.“Thinking something low-key but meaningful.I want her to be surprised.”
“Fake a fight,” Rafferty offers.“Then drop to your knee mid-argument.”
“Romantic,” I reply sarcastically.“May I suggest—Mazzy, even though I’m wrong about everything, will you marry me anyway?”
Foster guffaws.“You joke, but that will probably induce a yes.”
“Is Bowie Jane in on this?”North asks.That’s Foster’s irrepressibly adorable daughter, who he has full custody of.Mazzy started out as her nanny and then, well… they became a cliché.
“I haven’t shown her the ring because she can’t keep a secret to save her life.But she’s been begging me to propose to Mazzy for months.I’ll bring her in on the proposal, but it will be a last-minute thing.”
Foster pulls out his phone and shows us all pictures of the rock he bought.It’s a doozy for sure, but Mazzy’s cool as hell and deserves it.
I grin and lean back, stretching my arms behind my head.Nights like this are the best part of the season.Not the fame, not the stats.
Just this.
Friends who feel like family, laughter that takes the edge off and the grounding feeling that everything’s exactly where it’s supposed to be.
Somewhere in the middle of dessert, Rafferty pulls out his phone and checks his messages.He chuckles and then shows us a TikTok of a woman doing a dance routine in a bikini.I take great pleasure in knowing I got some of these guys hooked on the platform.
“Tempe just sent this to me,” he says, mouth full of chocolate cake.
“But why?”I ask, confused.
Rafferty shakes his head with a smirk.“Because she likes to push my buttons.She wants to know if I think she’s hotter than her, to which the answer is an emphaticno.”
“Good answer.”Penn squints at the video.“Is that the one who got roasted in the comments for saying she wouldn’t date a guy shorter than six feet tall?”
Rafferty blinks in surprise because Penn would be the last person you would think would follow any social media.“Probably.”His brows furrow.“But… you look at TikTok?”
Penn lifts a coy shoulder and nods my way.“Gotta follow my guy for support.And well… his content ends up serving me videos like that girl in the bikini.Go figure.”
“She’s cute,” North allows, “but she’s trying too hard.That’s not attractive.”
That launches a whole conversation that ordinarily wouldn’t occur but for the copious amount of alcohol we’re consuming.
“What actually makes a woman irresistible?”King asks, tapping the table for emphasis.“Like, actually.”
“Confidence,” North says without missing a beat.“The quiet kind.Farren has that oozing out of her pores.”
“Brains,” adds Penn.“Sass is a bonus.Mila is full of it.”
“Eyes,” Rafferty says.“And thighs.Tempe has perfect sets of both.”
Everyone looks at him.
“What?”He shrugs.“I’m a simple man.”
“Whatever,” I say, throwing a dinner roll at him and calling bullshit.It bounces off his chest back onto the table where it’s ignored.
Rafferty’s face softens, eyes a little dreamy.“For me, it’s spontaneity.That’s hot as hell and well, no one has that like Tempe.”
