Page 39 of Beyond the Hate

And then I’ll pounce.

Chapter 13

“Tease me all you want but cross the line to bullying and you’ll regret it.” ~ Paisley

Paisley

“I’m excited.” Chloe skips toward the entrance to Mermaid Mini Golf. “I’m going to win. Again.”

“Ha! No, you won’t.” Sophia chases after her.

Nova slings one arm over my shoulders and one arm over Maya’s. “I’m just glad to get away from Mr. Overprotective for a few hours.”

“You love Hudson and you know it,” Maya says.

Nova grins. “I do. It’s true. And you love Caleb.”

“Never said I didn’t.”

I snort. “Except for the twelve years you were pen pals and claimed you were only friends.”

“I was mistaken.”

“Mistaken. Sure.” I wink. I switch the subject before her face becomes red enough to light up the island. “I’m glad we managed to arrange an evening to play mini golf again.”

We used to play once a month. And by play, I mean drink beer, do shots of whiskey, and generally forget about the actual miniature golf part of the evening. But since my friends have fallen in love, they don’t have as much free time.

I expected this to happen. I dreaded the day in fact. Since I don’t ever plan to fall in love – learned my lesson there – I knew I’d end up alone at some point. Especially since I don’t have a family I care to spend time with.

My so-called family can fall off a cliff for all I care. Actually, I do care. In fact, I’ll help push them.

Nova nods in agreement. “We need to make time for each other. Otherwise, the years will fly by and before we know it, Iliana will be graduating from high school.”

“Where’s your putter?” Chloe asks when we reach her.

I don’t play golf but I am serious about winning miniature golf, which is why I have a putter. Or, rather, I used to.

“It was in my office.”

Her face falls. “I’m sorry. I’m a cow for reminding you of the brewery.”

“It’s okay. I can hardly forget the brewery was destroyed by a hurricane when I had to relocate the entire brewing facility to another location.”

“Another location?” Sophia snorts. “She’s cute. She thinks if she doesn’t mention Eli, we won’t either.”

It will be difficult to convince my friends – who for some reason think they’re matchmakers – to not discuss Eli. But I have an excellent idea of a distraction. I lift the whiskey bottle I brought with me. “I purloined provisions.”

Chloe’s brow wrinkles. “Purloined?”

“It’s a fancy way of saying steal,” Maya says. “Heroes are always purloining things they shouldn’t in historical romance.”

“I’m surprised you still have time to read romance since you’re now shacked up with Caleb,” Nova says.

“It’s impossible to have sex all the time.” Maya’s eyes widen when she realizes what she said. Her cheeks darken and she slaps a hand over her mouth.

Chloe barks out a laugh. “You’ve obviously tried.”

I hand out shot glasses to Sophia and Chloe but Nova holds up her hands. “I’m breastfeeding.”

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