Page 45 of Just One Season
She’s laughing and looking at the screen, and voices project from her mobile.
I swear my stupid heart leaps at the sight of her. My cock is also more than interested. I tell both to shut the fuck up.
Lucy freezes when she finally looks up and sees the four of us watching her. The door slams behind her.
“Shit,” she says. “I didn’t think you guys were coming till later.”
“Hello? Lulu?” a voice comes from the phone. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Not a ghost,” she says and turns the phone around. “Raleigh, January, say hi to Atticus, Harley, Lachlan, and Kellen.”
One woman yelps and the other giggles uncontrollably as Lucy scans the phone around the room.
“Are those your friends?” Lachlan asks, more than interested.
“Yes.” Lucy meets my gaze and presses her lips together. “I thought you guys were coming over at eight?”
“Seven. Sorry.”
“Glad you’re here, Lucy!” Lachlan says. “Ladies on Lucy’s mobile, we’re having a planning meeting for this fake dating situation. Want to join?”
“Yes!” they both scream at the same time as Lucy says “No!”
She looks across the room at Atticus, who shrugs.
“In case you were wondering, you are now officially Kellcy.” Atticus grabs a water bottle for himself, but I’m betting he wishes it was alcohol instead.
“That is perfection,” a voice squeals from Lucy’s phone.
“You… okay with this?” Lucy looks at her brother with a scrunched-up nose.
“Whatever,” he says.
“Okay, then. I just need a minute.” My fake girlfriend scoots across the room toward the hallway leading to Atticus’s spare bedroom. But as she passes, Atticus reaches out and grabs her phone.
“I’ll keep Raleigh and January. We’ll wait.”
Lucy disappears down the hall.
“Hello, ladies. How are you? How’s divorce number two treating you, Raleigh?”
“It’s fantastic,” Raleigh deadpans.
“She’s almost free,” January insists.
“And how’s London, January?”
“Excellent. I just got back from the pub. This is the perfect ending to my Saturday night.”
This was not how I planned on spendingmySaturday night. But there are worse ways.
Lucy comes back into the family room in a hoodie, hair pinned back in a messy bun. Lachlan throws his legs over the empty cushion between him and Harley, so Lucy is forced to sit next to me.
“Alright.” Atticus props Lucy’s phone up in the middle of the coffee table against a stray twenty-five-pound dumbbell. “So what’s the plan?”
I look over at Lucy sitting so close to me, but when her wide green eyes meet mine, she shakes her head.
“Go ahead.” Lucy waves a hand. “You explain the plan. Please.”
