Page 85 of Cowboy Devil's Embrace

“Irresponsible, Penny. Super irresponsible. You ignored the first rule of Girl Club!”

“Girl Club?” Max asked.

“You!” Avery seethed.

“Yes, it’s our thing,” I tried to explain.

“You have no place in Girl Club! Penelope, tell him,” Avery barked.

“It is only for girls,um, women,” I mumbled, and yeah, my cheeks were burning so bad.

“Repeat the rule, Penelope,” Avery said in her scariest mom voice.

Oh hell.

“The first rule of Girl Club is you never forget any of the rules of Girl Club,” I murmured.

“And? What is rule 13, Penny? Can you tell all of us, please?”

I sighed.

Dammit, I hated it when Avery used Girl Club against me.

“Rule 13 is you never leave with a boy without telling the other members of Girl Club where you are going,” I mumbled.

“How many members of Girl Club are there?” Max asked.

“Just us,” I whispered.

“And me!” Rosalie giggled as she came skipping down the stairs.

She was with Dante, who’d given her an ice cream sandwich while he fetched some ice for his head.

The swelling was already healed, but Avery would be suspicious if he didn’t at least look like he was taking care of his wound.

“And you, Rosie,” I said and smiled at my niece, opening my arms for a hug.

“Missed you, Auntie Penny,” she said and gave me sticky ice cream kisses.

“Me too, Rosie. Av,” I said, turning around with her baby in my arms.

“What?” Avery said, arms crossed.

“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean it. Max and I, we um, got engaged, and I guess we’ve been pre-honeymooning,” I said lamely.

“Pre-honeymooning? Seriously. You swear that’s all it was. He hasn’t brainwashed you into joining his cult?” she asked.

“What cult?” Max asked, aghast.

I snorted a chuckle.

“I swear. We are all good,” I said.

I knew she was worried about me, and this whole angry display was really kind of sweet. Well, not the part where she beat Dante over the head with a metal bat or when she thought Max was a cult leader, but the rest was sweet.

Kinda.

“Yay, Mommy, hug Auntie Penny now. Then we go to the rodeo,” Rosie said, clapping her hands.

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