Page 85 of The Rogue

I smile. I never had this. Family and friends popping in on you unexpectedly to whisk you off into the night for fun.

I scan myself briefly. I’ve stripped my make-up for the evening, and I’m practically in sleep clothes.

“Oh, you look so comfy. Now I want to change,” Pepper whines.

I push my hair behind my ears. Comfy. Is comfy the new “you look tired”?

“I’m not walkin’ back to the cottage, Pinky. You’re fine,” Chase calls, picking up a cube of cheddar from the board Levi put together. “Y’all have people over or somethin’?”

The way he asks almost makes it sound like Levi and I are a couple, like we host parties at our home.

I catch Levi’s tired glance. “Or somethin’,” he mutters.

I carry the board to the living room and join them on the couch. Things were probably about to get pretty hot in here with Levi, but this…his brothers, my friends, a late-night snack and drinks…iswarm. It fills my heart in a way I can’t explain. In a way I know I may never have again. And if only for a little, I want to pretend I’m one of them. Pretend I belong.

“Are nicknames a thing with all you boys? Noah, what’s yours for Charlie?”

Grump number two glances at his girlfriend but doesn’t respond.

“Well about an hour ago, it wasdrama queen,” Charlie snaps in his direction.

“Whoa.” I sink to the back of the couch, feeling like I am starting—or rather, continuing—a war.

“Clearly, I was way off,” Noah says dryly, rolling his eyes.

“Proof that you don’t know me at all!” Charlie flips her hair back and stalks to the kitchen.

Noah pushes off the couch. “Look, can we just drop it? I said I’ll fix it tomorrow.”

Charlie shakes her head, grabs the wine glass that belonged to me a few moments ago, and stalks out the back door. “Don’t bother.”

I jump off the couch as Noah starts after her and hold my hand flat against his hard chest. Damn these boys have good genes. “Hold it, four-eyes.”

“Tessa, move.” There’s a warning in his voice and it almost makes me laugh.

“Watch your tone,” Levi growls.

Lover-boy looks over my shoulder. “I don’t want her out there alone.”

Pepper looks at Chase expectantly, and he sighs dramatically. “I’m on it.”

I press Noah toward the couch. “What happened?”

When he gives me a look that saysI don’t have to explain anything to you, Pepper joins me, crossing her arms next to me like we’re—quite literally—Charlie’s Angels.

The grumpy nerd runs a hand through his silky hair. "Charlie and Bruce—one of the contractors for her bookstore—got into a little bit of a disagreement today."

“Oh boy,” Levi mutters from the kitchen.

“She wants an open and airy space where people can roam with coffee, books, and a seating area. Bruce complained about practicality and electrical outlets being hidden and whatnot.”

“Where doyoucome in?” I demand.

He jerks like it's obvious. “He’s got a point. Her vision is just not practical for—”

“Where doyoucome in?” I repeat slower. “As in, what did yousay?”

“I don’t remember…I just very calmly told her to consider what he was saying.”

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