Page 112 of Butterfly Effect

Why am I wearing the most clothes out of all these fools?

My hand wipes sweat from the back of my neck. “Where’s my girl?”

“Ugh,” Indi intones. “You two are gonna look so cute together. But,um, I did a bad thing.”

“A bad thi?—?”

Before I can finish, Gabe parkours from behind a couch and pounces me. Her arms cinch over my shoulders, legs wrapping around my hips until the jagged treads of her combat boots dig into my back.

“Hi,” she coos.

The citrus on her breath stings my eyes.

“Uh, hi.” I’m thrown off by her unusual affection.

“I missed you,” she adds, nuzzling close with an onslaught of bunny kisses. Her freckles nearly disappear under a pink flush, full lips pulling into a dazed smile.

Not sure what possessed her to say that, but I’ll take it.

My grip on her bare midriff tightens, absorbing all her warmth. The ends of her reddened hair tangle with my fingertips. “I missed you, too.”

This is what I mean. We’re teetering in this blurred twilight zone. Too real to be fake, but too fake to be real.

Both Davé-Radeks muffle squeals. Landon titters. Indi lightly slaps his bare arm with a shush.

I raise an eyebrow. “Is this the bad thing?”

Because I don’t mind it one bit.

Indi cringes with a hiss. “She seemed really uptight when she got here. I may or may not have encouraged her to have half a gummy.”

“She had an edible?”

Gabe gets to her feet and claps both her hands to my pecs. “It was” —her eyes cross for emphasis— “yum! You should try one!”

A nervous chuckle follows. “Heh, yeah.” Disapproving looks are sent to both culprits, received with innocent smiles and shrugs.

Troublemakers.

I clasp her hands in mine. “Maybe later, sweetheart.”

“Your freckles got smudged,” Gabe says through a dramatic pout. She pulls a black tube from a leather satchel hooked on her belt and uncaps it. “Don’t move.”

My hands settle at the base of her spine, letting her chest press into mine, savoring this rare moment. She squints, concentrating on spotting each cheek with a dark liquid. “There.”

Olsen boos from a cocktail table. “Get a room!”

I flip him off.

“Here, Lover Boy.” Landon passes me a dark red Jell-O shot. “You can take one of these with me.”

“What about you, Indi?”

“Yuck,no. It’s Fireball.”

Landy and I toss it back together, but it’s Jell-O, so it’s more like a slow, slimy descent that we have to slurp. The cinnamonburns all the way down, matching the heat in my belly to where Gabe tucks into my side.

I suck in a sharp breath afterward.

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