Page 27 of Quake

Oh, for fuck's sake.

Gloria’s bright eyes light up, her pearly white teeth glowing in the warm lighting. “It absolutely is! Do you ladies want one? I’ve got tons in my room. I tried to open an Etsy shop, but…” Her eyes swing around the room, glaring at the women I now recognize as Charlie, Rose, and Arielle. “Some peoplewouldn’t help me set it up because they were embarrassed of me! Can’t an old woman have her fun?”

“Mom, you’re not even old enough to qualify for a discounted meal at IHOP. You aren’t old, and you know it.” Charlie groans from across the room. “And it’s not the T-shirt selling we were embarrassed by, and you know that too! It’s the fact that you wanted theentire familyto wear the shirts in a group photo for you to advertise on social media.”

“And it wasn’t just the shirts either.” Arielle rolls her eyes. “The freaking underwear and men’s briefs with tinyglow-in-the-dark stick figures hunching. Like,come on,Gloria.” She snorts. “That’s just strange, even for you.”

“It’s not like I wanted you to wear the underwear in the photos!” Gloria shouts, exasperated, rolling her eyes.

“Yes. Yes you did,” Rose says in a no-nonsense tone.

This family is so fucking weird, and I love it.

“Fine, maybe I did. Moving on!” she says, tossing her arms up and leaning back into her chair with an eye roll that has me worried they might just pop out of her head.

Kat peers over at my friends, wearing a small smirk. Her fingers fiddle with the zipper of her olive-green jacket before sliding it down, revealing a hot-pink shirt with a white print that says “STFUATTDLAGG” across the chest.

Kira and Madison squeal, “Oh my god! Is that from Gloria too?”

“Yep,” Kat answers. Gloria leans forward to peer at what they’re staring at as Charlie runs a ragged hand over her face, releasing a loud groan.

“She got to you too, huh, Kat?” Charlie grumbles.

Aiyana smiles up at Kat, then pulls her hoodie off over her head, revealing her own custom “Hot girls read smut” shirt.

Gloria claps her hands enthusiastically. “Ah! See? Someone appreciates my genius!”

“You bitches staged a damn coup, didn’t you?” Arielle asks, her bright smile still intact as she says the words with no bite.

“Absolutely. Now let’s talk about this book I never managed to read.” Aiyana smiles brightly.

“That’s okay. We all know you only come for the snacks anyway.” Kat laughs.

Turning her gaze on my friends and me, Kat asks, “Did you guys get a chance to finish reading it? It’s okay if not; we usually have the whole month.”

“Absolutely. I read it in one sitting. It was so good! I hear the author is releasing the next one pretty soon, and I seriously couldn’t be more excited!” Madison explains.

“I was actually an ARC reader for it, and I’d give just about anything to be able to experience reading it for the first time all over again. Ryder was so swoony, and Lola was the spicy badass we needed in a cowboy romance!” Kira says.

“Ryder was a little rough around the edges.” Kat chuckles. “But that dance class he took her to had me kicking my feet and giggling the whole time.”

Arielle laughs, leaning forward as her eyes twinkle. “I went my whole life having no idea that the one thing I’d been missing this entire time was a beefy cowboy taking pole fitness lessons,” she says, bringing her fingers to her mouth and letting out a loud whistle.

“Yes!” I shout, bouncing in my seat. “That was so hot! And the freaking lap dance? I almost passed out,” I say, laying my hand on my forehead, my body swaying as I pretend to faint.

Tiny rests his big head on my knee, gazing up at me in question. I pat his head, smoothing his big wrinkled brow, and he sags against my side.

Gloria nods fervently at my assessment, chuckling as she does. “Wholeheartedly agree, and Ilovedthe tropes! Second chance, Latin dancer, cowboy, an unhinged best friend, runaway bride, oh my!” she says, fanning herself.

We spend the next hour and a half talking about this month’s book and everyone’s individual takes on each thing, making it pretty easy to relate to who they are as people. So far, I really like them all, and they’ve accepted my friends and me as if they’ve known us our whole lives.

***

The front door opens, and several tall men saunter in, each of them carrying a sort of swagger that would turn heads. Even the older gentleman, who I have to assume is Angelo based on everything Gloria’s told me about him tonight.

“Hey, Ma!” The man with dark waves and heterochromatic eyes shouts as he enters, bending down to kiss Gloria on the cheek. I’ve definitely seen all of these men before at soccer matches, but seeing them all up close and in person is a little startling. They’re so damn tall and even more gorgeous than should be humanly possible.

“Hi, trouble,” Gloria says, smiling up at him, his one blue eye a perfect match to hers. “How was bowling?” she asks with a knowing smirk.

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