Page 88 of Wish

“He did mention Jamie was the idiot of the bunch.”

“Rude,” Jamie deadpanned, then glanced at me. “How could you do it to me, bro?”

“I didn’t tell him that,” I said, flinging Win’s arm from around my shoulders.

“Hey, bro, what’s up? Ryan.” Ryan introduced himself, leaning around Rory—who was still perched in his lap—to offer his hand.

Win leaned in and they shook, and then he turned to Rory.

“Rory.” She smiled, also offering her hand.

When he pulled back, I introduced him to Madison, Kruger, and Prism.

“So that’s where you disappeared to yesterday,” Jamie said, hauling Madison into his lap so the rest of us could squish ourselves into the booth.

“I didn’t disappear. I was at home with a headache and no phone.” I reminded them as Win grabbed an empty chair and pushed it up to the end of the table, straddling it backward.

“Freestyle like Wes, right?” Win asked, pointing to Ryan who nodded. Then he pointed to Jamie, “Butterfly?”

“Bro, yeah.”

“What about you two?” he asked, dividing his pointing between Kruger and Prism.

“Backstroke,” Kruger said.

“Breaststroke,” Prism replied.

“And you two just make all these bros look pretty, right?” Win said, flashing his dimples at Madison and Rory.

“I’m the charming one here, bro,” Jamie grumbled.

Win smiled bigger. “I thought you were the cherry on top.”

“Same difference.”

“Orders up!” Veronica announced, shouldering over to the table with a giant black tray. Behind her was another waiter carrying a tray of the same size. “Wes,” Veronica said first, handing me a plate with two giant waffles dripping in butter and then another plate of scrambled eggs and bacon.

Then she handed the same to Kruger, Prism, and Win.

“Shirley, what about me, bro?” Jamie bemoaned.

“You just ate!” Madison exclaimed.

“That was just a snack.”

She grumbled, and he smacked a kiss on her cheek.

“I brought you another waffle,” Veronica told him, handing the plate over.

“Who’s the favorite now?” Jamie cackled.

Veronica paused in handing Win a coffee to look up. “It’s Wes, of course.”

When she was gone, everyone looked at me and I groaned.

“I thought you were going to talk to her,” Rory scolded.

“I did,” I mourned. “You saw me just now.” I glanced between Ryan and Jamie. “Bros. I have a new respect for the things you deal with on the daily.”

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