Page 14 of I Found You
“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ll get some, and we can light them off at the Cove.”
Reid looked like he was seriously contemplating it.
“Yeah, get the kid arrested during his proposal. That will go over well,” I laughed. Fireworks were illegal in Massachusetts, and cops had been really cracking down on them over the past few years.
“Alright, fair enough. What about… you get ‘Will you marry me?’ tattooed on your chest, and you rip your shirt off when you drop to one knee? Good, right?” Seb joked. He owned his own tattoo parlor. He probably had that request more times than he could count. The things people wanted to ink onto their skin were wild sometimes.
I was laughing at one of Seb’s stories about some guy who refused to believe him when he told him that his design was misspelled when I felt a prickle sensation at my back. I could feel the moment she walked through the door. It was like she was a homing device. Maeve stood at the counter, baby Jane in the carrier I had left at her house. The pride I felt at that made no sense. She wasn’t standing at the ordering section of the counter, so she must have called ahead.
Wes must have noticed that my attention had shifted and followed it. He didn’t miss much. I couldn’t take my eyes off her—them—but I heard Wes’s low warning, and my instincts told me to keep my attention on them.
“Incoming.” Wes must have spotted the three women now making a beeline for Maeve, all talking with their heads low and laughing at something that felt malicious. I could tell something was about to go down.
“Maeve. Hey!” Andrea said with false cheeriness. “That’s so cute. I forgot you were babysitting. I wouldn’t even have known that she isn’t yours. You look like someone who just had a baby.”
One of the other girls’ eyes must have tripled in size, the look on her face a combination of embarrassment and amusement. She turned away from Maeve, pointing herself in my general direction, and was clearly trying to hold back more laughter. “Oh my God, Andrea. You didn’t just say that.”
I could feel my blood start to boil in irritation. Maeve wasn’tskinny; she had curves and meat and substance. I thought that women-bashing-women shit was behind us. Girl Power and all that.
“You alright, Wy? Your face just turned to stone, and you’re about to drill a hole in those girls’ heads if you keep staring lasers at them,” Wes said.
“Didn’t you take one of those girls to Luke’s wedding?” Reid asked, craning his neck so he could see around Wes.
I didn’t bother to respond to either of them. Getting up, I rapped my knuckles on the tabletop twice before I walked away, making my way over to Maeve and baby Jane.
“Hey, doll, you got our food? Sorry that took so long. Those guys are chattier than high school girls.” My hand went to the back of her head. I stroked her hair, tangling my fingers through it along the way. Leaning in to kiss baby Jane’s forehead, I gave her a quick wink. To her credit, it only took about two seconds for her to catch on, the look on her face morphing from confusion to gratitude. “Oh, perfect, it’s just coming out now,” I said as I took the takeout bag from the server. Taking my eyes away from Maeve for the first time, I pretended to take in my surroundings, finally glancing at the mean girl crew.
“Ladies.” I nodded at them.
“Wyatt? Wow. It’s been a while.” Andrea looked me up and down shamelessly. The one woman who was laughing was looking at me appreciatively but was more subtle than Andrea. It was only the third woman who seemed to be taking stock of the whole situation, mouth open, eyes darting between Andrea, Maeve, and myself.
I turned to her and put on my best smile. “I didn’t realize you were friends of Maeve’s.”
“Yeah. Good friends. Oh no,” she said with a fake frown on her face. “Don’t tell me you two are together. You know the girl code, Maeve. You can’t date someone that one of your friends has already slept with.” The smug tilt to her lips was not doing her any favors.
She wanted to try to stake a claim? I’d take that claim and raise it. Feigning confusion, I responded, “Us? Oh shit. I completely forgot about that.” I probably shouldn’t feel proud of that comment, but she wanted to try to fuck with Maeve. In my opinion, it was fair game to get fucked with right back. “Well, it was nice running into you. Let’s get this food home, doll.”
I put my hand on Maeve’s lower back, gently guiding her to the exit. Opening the door, I let her go through first and then followed her out. “Where did you park?” I asked, leaning in close so I could whisper it, even though we were already outside and no one would be able to overhear us.
Most businesses didn’t have parking lots in downtown Calla Bay. The parking spaces lined both sides of the street at a diagonal angle. In the summertime, like now, it could be torture to find a spot. But in the winter, after the tourists had left, it would be wide open.
“Left. Just a couple of spots down. That’s my car there.” I didn’t take my hand from her back as we walked down the street toward her car. “I owe you an apology. I’m sorry about you having to step in back there.”
“You’re right, you do owe me an apology, but not for that. You didn’t do anything wrong. Those women clearly peaked in high school and can’t get past it.”
She visibly swallowed but didn’t say anything else for the moment, leading the way between her passenger door andthe car next to it, with me behind her. I opened the door, put the takeout bag on the floor of the back seat, and turned back to her. “Shoot. Um, I just need to get around you to put Jane in her car seat,” she said.
“I can do that. Hand her to me, and just get in the car. You need to get that AC on. It is sweating balls in here.”
She gave me a funny look. I wasn’t sure if it was because of my offer to help or because of my word choice. Motioning with my hand up, I waved two fingers to indicate the “bring her here” signal. While I put Jane in the car, Maeve rounded to the driver’s side, removed the carrier, and got in. Once I had Jane buckled in, I closed her door and jumped into the passenger seat.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, I can’t very well go back inside right now, can I?” My brow rose, and a grin spread across my face. “Looks like I’m having takeout with you two.”
She rubbed her hands on her thighs, drawing my attention to creamy skin where her dress had ridden up, making my cock twitch. Maeve cleared her throat, and I pulled my gaze away from her thighs only to realize I had been caught staring.
“Better get going before Jane starts to make a fuss.”
