Page 131 of Someone to Remember
He gives me a warm smile that makes my skin tingle with awareness before he walks away.
“Start talking,” Naomi says the minute he’s out of earshot.
“Holy house on fire,” Brielle says. “Have you been holding out on us, Kins?”
“Relax, people. We’re friends. Nothing to see here.”
“Then why do I have singe marks on my arm?” asks Joy, who is standing next to me.
They crack me up. “Oh, hush.”
Maisy comes to me, holding hands with Luke’s older daughter, Clarissa.
“Where’d my dad go?” Clarissa asks.
“He took Phoebe to the restroom.”
“Oh, okay. I was wondering where she was, too.”
“Let’s go dance,” Maisy says.
They take off for the dance floor.
When I return my attention to my friends, they’re looking at me with intrigued expressions.
“Knock it off,” I tell them.
“Speaking of knocking, don’t let him knock you up,” Wynter says. “Six kids is already a lot. Seven is almost a baseball team.”
While the others laugh their stupid asses off, I glare at Wynter. “Thanks for the advice.”
“I’m here all night,” she says, sending them into new fits of laughter.
“Is it always like this with you guys?” Taylor asks as she wipes up laughter tears.
“Pretty much,” Brielle says. “Except when something shitty happens. Then we’re not quite as irreverent.”
“You have to watch out for Wynter, though,” Naomi says with an affectionate glance toward our youngest member. “She’s the problem.”
“Whatever,” Wynter says disdainfully. “I’m the comic relief around here.”
“That you are, love,” Adrian says with a grin.
While the others fill Taylor in on some of Wynter’s more outrageous moments, I turn to Angela, who’s standing next to me, vibrating with tension. Her arms are crossed, as if that alone can protect her. “How’re you doing?”
“Never been better.”
“We’re glad you came.”
“I almost didn’t.”
“We would’ve missed you.”
“I feel like everyone is looking at me.”
“No one is looking at you, and if they do, we’ll poke their eyes out.”
She laughs. “I need to hire you guys to go everywhere with me.”
