Page 40 of The Hard Hitter

I wave a dismissive hand. “Oh please. My mom sent me to school with them. I was complaining of being itchy and she just told me to stop scratching. The nurse sent me home. Mom was mortified, but look at me. It didn’t hurt me. I’m somewhat normal.”

“Somewhat,” he teases, and I whack him.

“Sometimes with the first child, it’s easy to miss things,” I say. “By the time the second or third comes around, you’ll get better at this. You’ll see.”

He arches a brow. “Second or third?”

“It will happen, Zander. You’ll find the right woman one of these days, and want to fill this house with kids.”

He doesn’t answer me, instead his gaze goes to the TV, to spot the couple sneaking off to find a quiet place to make out.

“Rule number one in horror films,” he begins. “Never sneak off to have sex.” He makes a slicing motion across his throat. “They’re always the first to go.”

Some guy with a huge blade sneaks up on the couple making out. I settle in next to Zander, and he puts his arm around me as I put my hand in front of my face and peer at the TV through my spread fingers.

“I

’m going to have nightmare for the rest of my life,” I say.

He hugs me. “I think you can now officially say you’ve watched a scary move. I’ll find us something else.”

“You sure?”

“Yup.” He grabs the remote and starts flicking.

I glance at the clock. “Actually, I should probably go. We don’t want Daisy waking up to find me here.”

He hesitates for a second. “Quinn asked whose sports car was in the driveway.”

I cringe. “What did you tell her?”

“I told her a friend was staying over.” He looks at me, his eyes the deepest blue I’ve ever seen them. “I didn’t lie, Sam. You are a friend.”

“Yes, I’m a friend.”

“I think she knew it was you though.”

“What makes you say that?”

“She had a weird smirk on her face. It was the same smirk she gave me when we were at the club.”

“If so, then why did she give my number to Todd?”

He turns to face me. “She told me she gave him your contact information.”

“Really? Why?”

“She wanted to know if I thought it was okay. I think Quinn might be fucking with us.”

“Todd texted me.”

His eyes narrow. “What did he want?”

“A coffee date.”

“It’s you and me for the next month, Sam. After that…” His words fall off.

“You and me for the next month,” I agree, and try not to think about the lump in my throat.

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