Page 9 of Faking the Play

“I honestly don’t know if I can eat,” she said, wrapping her arms around her middle.

I shrugged as I parked the car. “More for me, but Logan probably won’t let you get away with it. Unless you’ve already eaten dinner.”

“He still thinks he’s the boss of everyone?” One corner of her mouth twitched, and I seized on that.

“When we moved here two years ago, he made a chore wheel.”

I felt a swell of pride when she laughed at that. I’d always been the one who could get her to laugh, and it was nice to know that hadn’t changed.

When we walked into the apartment, her face lit up. Logan and Ryan hadn’t just ordered a couple pizzas. They got her favorite, plus a bunch of sides, and four or five different kinds of soda.

“There’s ice cream in the freezer for dessert,” Logan said as he came over to give Amelia a hug. “We plan on putting you into a food coma, so I hope you’re hungry.”

The sideways glance she gave me had both of us laughing while the other two exchanged confused looks.

“I told her you’d make her eat,” I said as I walked over to the couch and plopped down on the end. Looking up at her, I patted the cushion next to me.

“Come on, I won’t bite.” I couldn’t help myself. I winked and added, “Unless you ask me to, of course.”

Ryan smacked the back of my head. “Not cool.”

“It’s all right,” she said with a smile. “I remember how Ethan can be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“I seem to remembersomeonesaying that you’d flirt with anything that’d stand still long enough.” Her dark blue eyes danced with humor. “Even if it was a plant.”

Logan made a choking sound and I glared at him. “When did you say that?”

He shrugged even as he reached for a slice of pizza. “I’ve probably said it a dozen times since I learned what flirting was. To be honest, I do sometimes say ‘tree’ instead of ‘plant.’”

“Oh, yeah, that’s so much better,” I said. “Just for that, I get to choose what we watch.”

“Hell, no,” Logan said, making a grab for the remote.

I cackled as I snatched it first. “Too slow, old man.”

“You’re only two weeks younger than me,” Logan pointed out.

I opened my mouth to say something snarky, but suddenly, the remote was yanked out of my hand. I turned to see Ryan holding it, a small smirk on his face.

“What was it you were saying about being old?” He sat down on Amelia’s other side. “Experience trumps youth.”

Amelia barked a laugh, then clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. “Sorry.”

Her apology was muffled, but I wasn’t having it. I reached over and wrapped my fingers around her wrist, tugging her hand away.

“You can laugh all you want. Hell, we like hearing it.” I let her go before I could talk myself into keeping hold of her. Leaning forward, I grabbed a napkin and put a slice of the pepperoni and bacon pizza on it. “Here. Eat. Laugh. Relax.”

“Thanks,” she said quietly as she took the pizza. “Not just for the food. Thanks for all of this, guys. I don’t know what I would’ve done today if I hadn’t run into you.”

“Well, you don’t need to figure it out,” Logan said as he dropped onto a chair. “Because we’ve got your back.”

“Like if you need someone to help you get rid of a body,” I put in. “We can help with that.”

“Or with the murder,” Ryan added, his eyes darkening.

“Or anything else you need,” Logan said.

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