Page 101 of Connected By Stars
“Not the taco threat. I need those in my life.”
Laughing, she swats his arm. “Put me down, you goof. You know I love feeding you.”
“That’s what I thought.” Mav sets her down before turning to me. “You ready to grab some lunch?” He picks up our small cooler, and I get our bag.
Nodding, I take his hand, and we walk to the house.
“Where are you guys going?” Maya opens the door, and we walk in behind her. Going over to the basket she has by the door, she gets two towels and hands one to us so we can dry off from the hose. I dry my legs before putting on my shorts and crop t-shirt that I had in my bag.
“We’re going to Rusty’s for lunch,” Mav says, putting his shirt back on. I dig in our bag for our flip-flops and hand him his.
“You guys have fun. It’s a beautiful day today to eat outside.” She goes to the fridge and pulls out two coconut waters before handing them to us. “So tonight, you tell Noah?”
I take a sip of my coconut water before nodding. “Yeah. They’re coming over for a game night. We’re going to tell them then.”
“You both are the closest to him. How do you think he’ll take the news?”
“I have no clue,” Mav says, blowing out a breath. “It can go two ways, he’ll accept it right away and be happy for us, or he’ll be pissed at me for a while until I can prove myself to him. Either way, it’s not a conversation I’m looking forward to having.”
“It’s going to be fine,” I say, reaching over and squeezing his hand. “Noah loves us both. He’ll accept it.”
“I agree with Bella. You have nothing to worry about, and if, for some reason, he is pissed, you guys will work it out like you always have. You used to get mad at each other all the time when you were little and always worked things through.”
“That was for little stuff like taking the last cookie. I think this is slightly bigger than eating the last cookie Noah had saved.”
“He used to get so mad at me, too. Don’t even get me started about the time I ate the last slice of apple pie he was saving.” I laugh. “Luckily, Emma makes damn good apple pies to appease his sweet tooth. And don’t forget, she’s on our side.”
“I just want it all done and out in the open. We better get going. That protein bar I ate hours ago is not cutting it.” He laughs and hugs his mom.
“You two have fun and call me after talking to Noah. I want to hear all about it.” Maya hugs me and opens the front door for us.
“We will,” I promise her. I follow Mav to his jeep and hop in when he opens the door for me.
Rusty’s lunch crowd is in full swing by the time we arrive a few minutes later. We make our way up the stairs to the outdoor dock and are led to a table overlooking the water. I see a group of four guys sitting down for a meal. All four of them are built and covered in arm tattoos. The closer we get, the more I notice how good-looking they are. They have to be related because they all share the same dark hair and striking eyes.
One of them smiles at me as we pass by, and I immediately think of Sophia. She’s going to die when I tell her about them. They couldn’t be more her type if she would have picked them out of a catalog herself. They must be new in town or on vacation because I’ve never seen them around here, and I know for a fact Sophia hasn’t laid eyes on them yet. I almost want to go over there and get some details for Soph, but I refrain myself. I’m sure the last thing Mav wants to do is try and set his sister up with a big-tatted guy. Hopefully, they’ll be around again, and she can talk to them.
We sit down and order our drinks and lunch when the waitress arrives. We know the menu like the back of our hand and always go for the fish tacos off their lunch menu with a side of fries to split.
I’m taking a sip of my margarita halfway through our lunch when a blond girl comes up behind Mav and puts her arms around his neck.
“Hey, sexy. I’ve been wondering when I would see youagain. It’s like you’ve dropped off the face of the planet. You haven’t been out lately to your usual spots.” Mav tenses and looks over his shoulder at her. He untangles her arms from around his neck and meets my eyes briefly before turning his attention to her.
I lift my eyebrows at him but say nothing, wanting to see how this plays out.
“Hey, Cara. Yeah, I’ve been busy.”
Her eyes shift to me. “You’re Noah’s baby sister, right? I think I remember you hanging out with him and Mav one night with his younger sister, Sophia. It’s cute that they let you guys tag along.”
My eyes bore into hers, and I will myself to calm down. I’m about to respond with a few choice words when Mav reaches out and takes my hand, knowing I’m on the verge of letting her have it.
“She’s actually the reason I’ve been so busy lately. I’ve been spending time with my girlfriend. And for the record, they never just tagged along. Noah and I have to beg them to drop their plans to hang out with us.”
Her eyes go wide as she looks at the two of us. “Girlfriend? But you said you never wanted more, that you never wanted to settle down. And now you’re with your best friend's baby sister?” Her eyes go back to me like she’s disgusted with just the idea of us.
“I’d be real careful how you talk or look at Bell. She’s my girlfriend, and I won’t have you disrespect her. I never lied to you. I never did want more until I let myself see what was right in front of me. It just took the right person for me to see that.” He squeezes my hand that he hasn’t let go of, and I feel my anger at this girl slowly melt away.
“So this is it then? A tiger can’t change its stripes, you know. You’ll be texting me next week for a late-night visit once you getbored in this relationship.” She crosses her arms like a toddler having a tantrum. I almost feel sorry for the girl. Almost.
