Page 30 of The Proposal Pact
“Julie! You are a life savior with your concoctions,” I tell her mid-sip through my lavender matcha that she won me over with on the very first day in Loverly Cave. Clearly, I was drinking the wrong kind of lavender stuff before, because ever since I moved to LC, my life’s definitely got a whole lot more colorful.
Julie smiles brightly at me. “I’m glad you love it! I brought all of your favorites. Sorry, Cal, I didn’t know you’d be here since you avoid social gatherings like the plague, so you get nothing.”
“Wait, how do you know my Sheriff Hot Asshole?” I ask her and Julie freezes, blinking up at me.
“Oh, for fucks sake!” Callum groans, tipping his head back. “You know my name now, can we move on from that stupid nickname? And you”—he points to Julie—“forget what you just heard! We are not—” He stops, pursing his lips. “There is nowe! I’m not hers and she’s not mine, so erase that moment of your life this instant!”
“One second here,” Joy interrupts. “You broke her door—possibly plural—and her TV and she didn’t even know your name before?”
“What the fuck does that supposed to mean? I only broke the front one.”
“No, he slept on the couch. There was no breaking of any other doors,” I tell her.
A second of silence and then…
“What?”
“He slept here?”
“He slept where?”
“What kind of best friend keeps secrets like that?”
“Man, this is one fun painting session.”
“Huh?” Julie’s eyes volley between all of us. “Callum! What in the sweet rosemary is going on here?”
“Jacob, you slow duck! I told you we needed to hurry here. They already started having fun without us!” Alec, Hope’s husband and Luke’s brother, cries out from the hallway. “Hey, guys,what did we miss?” The two newcomers grin wide, the blond Viking-looking one of them holding a small yellow duck under his arm.
“It’s freaking illegal how hot all of your men are,” I say with equal parts disgust, envy, and appreciation as I take the last sip of my matcha, sitting on the floor of my apartment, leaning against the wall and enjoying the view.
“Tell me about it,” Zoe groans in sympathy, sitting one person over. She’s the only other single woman in this group apart from me, and I’m glad at least someone understands my pain.
I’ve been around handsome guys before. Heck, my brother is one of them—although that’s different—but there must be something in the Loverly Cave water to make these males on another level.
They are all tall, muscular, tatted upANDthey all wear their baseball caps backward! I mean, this is practically illegal. Not to mention, Alec and Jacob sat us all down on this floor, against the wall, handed us drinks and got to work on sanding my kitchen themselves, telling us they got it handled.
Men still do that? I don’t remember the last time someone had done anything this nice for me. Heck, even bought me a cup of coffee!
“Zoe, you’ve been here a little longer, are there any other men like that left in here?”
“Our age? Unfortunately, no,” she answers cryptically.
I raise an eyebrow at her, wondering what’s that all about and which not-our-age guy put that dreamy look on her face.
“Quack, quack,” Franchesca, Joy and Jacob’s pet duck walks in front of us, and we all watch her strut around the apartment. A pet duck! I want one!
Joy sighs. “Franchesca! Get back here before someone makes an omelet out of you. Seriously, Jacob, what were you thinking bringing her here?”
“What?” he asks, all innocently. “Do you see those sweet eyes? I couldn’t leave her all alone in the house. You know she has separation anxiety.”
“Franchesca does or you do?” Joy cocks an eyebrow.
“Shh, don’t distract me, woman, you’re already pregnant with my twins.”
“Idiot,” Joy mutters but can’t hide the tiny smile grazing her lips. The smile I’ve only noticed to come out whenever her goofball husband is around. I’ve never seen a couple more different yet absolutely perfect for each other.
“Please tell me I can have an idiot of my own someday?” I ask, longingly and in that precise moment, Luke and Callum walk in carrying my new couch into the apartment.
