Page 70 of Five Alarm Love
Well, Maverick strolled.Lou kind of lurked around the corners.Good thing she wasn’t an avoidant personality at all.Ha.
She had texted Tuli the evening after the car accident to let him know she would go on her own to Deirdre and Calvin’s wedding.Right now, Lou needed to take a break from her life and from all drama.Mostly, she needed a break from feeling exposed, and Tuli’s offhand comment had triggered several prying texts from Hunter that she refused to deal with.
As she came around the corner to the deli counter, she took a sip of coffee and nearly spit it out.
“What happened to you?”she blurted.
Mav whistled low.“Nice.”
Tuli’s left eye was bruised and swollen.
“Surprised you didn’t hear about it, rumor mill and all.”He shrugged.“My face attacked a fist.”
Mav smirked.“I think I know who won.”
“You should see the other guy.”
“You sure about that?”
Tuli’s lopsided smile drooped.“Up for debate.”
“So?”Mav said.
With a shrug, Tuli glanced at Lou.“Hey, I did what needed to be done in the moment.”
She listened carefully.
Mav asked, “Which means what, exactly?”
Tuli blurted out, “I defended Lou’s honor!”
“Wait.”Rearing back, she clutched the coffee cup.“This had to do with me?”
Tuli leaned forward on the counter.“I couldn’t have Hunter saying impolite things about you.”
Her heart did a bizarre swoop up and then a stomach-churning nosedive.“You were the one who shared out my personal business in front of him.”
Mav leaned against the end of a grocery shelf, crossed one ankle over the other, and blew on his coffee.A faint smile formed, and he pursed his lips, clearly entertained.
Lou hated a show.
“I didn’t know he was standing there,” Tuli said, ignoring their audience of one.
Lou replied, “We were in public.”
“Who cares?”
She lowered her voice.“I told you that information in confidence.”
“This isn’t confidential now.”He lifted his chin toward a very quiet Mav.
She shook her head.“Even if he knew what we were talking about—and he does not—Mav won’t talk, even under torture.”
“For sure under torture,” Mav said with a wince.
Lou ran a hand over her ponytail and huffed.“Tuli, look, you’re a good guy and all.Thanks for knocking around my idiot cousin, I guess.But I don’t need my honor defended.I can take care of myself.”As she would be doing in the future.Alone.“By the way, defending my honor doesn’t count if you’re the one blabbing my personal information and then getting mad if someone hears it.”
If Mav’s eyebrows went up any farther they’d meet his hairline.
