Page 114 of The Dating Pact

“Nice.”

Dylan lowered his voice, resting his elbows on his knees, holding his to-go cup of coffee between his hands. “But I don’t how much longer Scarlett will keep going with the whole…S-A…”

He slowed, his dyslexia obvious, but Liam and I got the idea.

“Seb stopped believing in second grade,” I said, double-checking he still lounged in the corner, playing on his Switch. “Caught me wrapping the gifts.”

Dylan grunted next to me. “I still haven’t bought anything for Gen yet.”

Liam peered around me. “Clock’s ticking.”

“I know, but I don’t know what to get her. She keeps saying nothing, but I’m not giving her nothing.” He toyed with the brim of his baseball cap. “What’d you two get your girls?”

“Day at the spa and…” Liam pulled his cell phone from his back pocket to show us something on the screen, a picture of a picture. “I found this woman on Instagram. You send her a photo, and she draws it.”

The picture was an illustration of Finn in Kennedy’s lap at a table, both of them grinning in front of what appeared to be a mug of hot chocolate and a can of whipped cream. Kennedy held her finger in the air with some cream on it, probably after she’d wiped it off Finn’s face since he still had remnants around his mouth.

“Aw, man,” I crooned. “I love that.”

On the other side of me, Dylan agreed. “Maybe I should give Genevieve something like that. How much was it?”

“Couple hundred.”

Dylan huffed. “Or maybe I’ll frame a picture of my dick.”

I shook my head in amusement. “I got Brooke this thing that clips to her e-reader and a remote, so she doesn’t have to hold it. Evie likes to read, right?”

“Yeah, but mostly audio. We listen together.”

“You still doing that?” Liam asked, and Dylan nodded.

“Not often, but sometimes it’s better than watching TV.”

“Brooke and I read books together.” I stopped myself. “I mean, she sends me books to read.”

Liam grinned like the Cheshire cat. “Got your own book club, huh?”

“Bet you’re into some kinky shit.” Dylan smirked. “It’s always the ones you wouldn’t think who are.”

“I plead the Fifth,” I said, and then, “Why don’t you ask Nate what to get his sister?”

Dylan lost his shit-eating grin real quick. “That guy’s on my last nerve.”

“What happened now?”

“He’s trying to convince me to make him my best man.”

Dylan had proposed to Genevieve this past June, and they’d set the date for this coming June after her dance recital since she ran a studio and wanted to wait until the season was over.

“Why not?” I shrugged. “He was mine. Makes a good best man.”

“I told him we weren’t doing that. You know it’s gonna be small. Tucker and Scarlett are going to stand up with us.”

“That’s nice,” I said, and Liam nodded.

“Yeah, but now he’s giving me shit about doing a bachelor party and all that.” He waved his hand as if batting away a fly. “I don’t want it.”

I bit back a smile. That was the thing about Nate. When he wanted something, he could be really persistent. Annoyingly persistent. He’d also go to the ends of the earth for the people he loved. “Eh, he’s a good guy.”

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