Page 50 of After the Vows

“Until the next morning when you guys message me all the stuff I did the previous night.”

Sophia wraps an arm around Maya’s shoulders. “We’re helping you break out of your shy persona.”

“Being shy isn’t a handicap,” Maya mutters.

“But it does stop you from taking a chance on Caleb.”

Maya’s cheeks darken. “Caleb is a friend. Nothing more.”

“But you want more,” Nova says.

“We’re not discussing me. We’re supposed to be bugging Chloe about Lucas tonight.” Maya’s eyes widen when she realizes what she said and she slaps a hand over her mouth.

“Don’t worry about spilling the beans, Maya. It was kind of obvious what you were up to when you tried to sabotage me on the first hole.”

“I told you this plan was silly,” Paisley says.

Sophia sticks her tongue out at Paisley. “You say all our plans are silly.”

“Because they are.”

“Maybe you’re a fuddy duddy who needs to lighten up.”

Nova waves her hands in the air. “No fighting!”

Paisley’s dead serious when she answers. “We’re not fighting. We’re having a discussion on whether I’m a fuddy duddy or not.”

“This sucks. Chloe is on to us now.”

I wag my finger at Sophia. “I wasn’t going to give you any dirt on Lucas anyway.”

She crosses her arms over her chest and pouts. “I don’t know why not. I told you everything about me and Flynn.”

“Liar!”

“Shush,” Maya hisses. “We’ll get kicked out again.”

“We’re not getting kicked out because I’m not talking.”

“Does this mean we can go?” Paisley asks. “I’m working on a new recipe for a session IPA. It’s nearly ready to taste test.”

Awesome. I can get home in time to say goodnight to Natalia. Maybe read her a chapter of the Enola Holmes mystery she’s reading. Cuddling with Natalia in bed while reading to her is my new favorite thing. It’s better than Five Fathoms Summer IPA, which says a lot.

“Let’s get Paisley back to the brewery.” I herd everyone toward the exit. “We don’t want the session IPA wasted. Clients have been asking if we have one.”

Sophia tugs on my hand. “Who are you and what have you done with our Chloe?”

Cindy, the teenager on duty, bustles toward us before I can answer. Thank goodness because I’m not ready to confess to Sophia about how lonely I am. How I hide my loneliness behind my wild child persona. How Lucas fills holes I didn’t think could ever be filled.

“Are you leaving?” Cindy asks.

We hand her our putters and balls. “Thank the Kraken. We had a lottery to decide who had to work tonight. I lost. I thought I’d have to kick you out again.”

Paisley’s nose wrinkles. “You’ve never kicked us out. We’ve been politely asked to vacate the premises before is all.”

I hurry to Sophia’s car. We’ll be here all night debating about the difference between being kicked out and being asked to vacate the premises if Paisley has anything to do about it.

But I don’t have the time. I can’t wait to see Natalia and Lucas again. I have a feeling I’ll never spend enough time with those two.

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