Page 9 of In Spades

Steve was quietly overbearing, and Chase was the loud, smothering type. Thanks to the two of them, I hadn’t had a date in four years. And the one date I did go on shortly after I moved in with the kids?

Well, let’s just say that date went down in a blaze of glory, landed in a ripe pile of garbage, and exploded into a dumpster fire of Chernobyl proportions.

Apparently, living in a trailer park with four kids and no money didn’t exactly make me a hot commodity.

Steve and Chase didn’t need to be my lifeguards in the dating pool. I was perfectly capable of scaring away potential suitors just fine.

“Just a guest, huh?” Chase shifted his hands on the wheel as we rounded the bay toward Maddie and Luca’s house. “Just a guest would have asked if you were okay and then left.” He cut me a glance. “He wouldn’t have puffed out his chest and introduced himself when I rolled up.”

I glared at him. “I was in his room to clean for, like, ten minutes. We made awkward small talk, that’s all.”

“Whatever you say, kid.”

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the seat. The gentle road rumble was soothing.

“Kris—”

Someone was shaking me.

I snapped up, looking around frantically. “Hm? Wha?—”

Chase was standing with the passenger door wide open. We were parked in Maddie’s driveway. “You dozed off.”

Fuck. I needed a nap. I rubbed my eyes and unlatched my seatbelt. “Sorry.”

He draped his arm around my shoulders, and we made our way around the side of the house to the downstairs entrance of Luca’s man cave.

“It’s okay to ask for help, Kris,” Chase said in a kind voice.

I knew he meant well, but that didn’t mean I liked it.

Monday poker nights were the best part of the week. Everyone piled into Maddie and Luca’s basement, gorged themselves on pizza and drinks, and alternated between smack talking and catching up on local gossip.

“What are y’all talking about?” Chase asked as the two of us stepped inside.

Maddie, Hannah Jane, Mel, Erica, and Bridget sat crowded together on the couch, giggling like schoolgirls.

“Lip fillers,” Hannah Jane sing-songed, flashing the screen of her phone where a photo of a social media influencer filled the screen.

The poor woman’s face was puffed up like she had eaten a jellyfish. She was trendy looking, even with the allergic reaction, but I didn’t have a clue who she was. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d looked at social media.

Luca walked by, depositing a beer into Chase’s hand and a fruity pink cocktail in mine.

Chase grinned. “Lip fillers, huh? That’s what the ladies like to call my dick.”

Luca and Chase high-fived while Maddie and Mel burst into a fit of laughter and nearly rolled off the couch, clutching their stomachs.

Erica crossed her legs, wiping the tears out of her eyes. “Warn a girl! Y’all know I can’t laugh without peeing a little now.”

Bridget’s mouth gaped open.

“You kiss Layla with that mouth?” I asked playfully.

Chase winked. “Hell yeah, I do.”

Layla Mousavi, a nurse at the hospital, and Chase had been seeing each other on and off ever since they hit it off at the bar.

Ever since that night, things between him and Bridget had been awkward. Their flirtationship had come to a screeching halt. It was probably for the best, though, given that Bridget was happily cohabitating with Kyle Kingsley.

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