Page 27 of The Best Friend Power Play

"Sleep well," I say, shaking my head.

"I will. You, t-t-too."

Culver's parked himself in the living room, so that's where I head, dropping off the hot girl summer list in my bedroom on the way.

I place it on my nightstand when I get an impulse to add one more thing to it. I snag a pen from the top drawer and perch myself on the edge of my bed.

This summer is about me doing whatever I want to do, right? And part of that means I need to stop overthinking everything, stop being so rigid. So responsible. So planned down to the last detail.

This summer, if it feels good, I should do it.

I smile to myself.

Yeah, I like that.

I click the pen, and then I write down three little words I definitely won't be sharing with the kids.

Or Culver.

Maybe especially Culver.

Because this is something I want to do that's just for me and no one else.

Lose my virginity.

4

Culver

I catch the sound of Hannah's yawn a few seconds before she appears in the living room.

"Sorry," she apologizes as I drop my feet to the floor and pat the spot next to me on the couch.

"Don't apologize," I say as she trudges over.

I noticed she looked a little rundown the moment I surprised her in the store, and she started yawning more and more frequently as we were working on her hot girl summer list over dinner.

Seeing how exhausted she is only makes me double-down on my commitment to make her life easier.

That won't be difficult.

I'm a freak who finds housework relaxing—especially laundry, for some unknown reason—and I love to cook. Hannah isn't going to have to lift a finger around here for the next three months.

And now I have another duty to add—–make sure she follows through on that list and has the hot girl summer she deserves.

But only if it's what she truly wants.

Based on how she said she came up with the idea, I got the impression that maybe her friends inadvertently strongarmed her into it. Then the kids and I kinda hijacked brainstorming ideas for it over dinner.

So first I'm going to make sure that this is something she actually wants to do, and only if it is, then I'm going to turn into the hot girl summer policeman. Uniform sold separately.

She collapses onto the sofa. Her skin is a little dull, and she's blinking heavily, her exhaustion palpable.

I tap my lap several times.

She notices. "Oh, no, Culver. You don't have to do that."

"But I want to," I say, leaning over to grab her by her calves.

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