Page 35 of Unravel Me

I scoop my son into my arms and cuddle him close, my eyes fluttering closed against his fine, blond wisps.

“Hi, baby,” I whisper. “Mama missed you.”

CHAPTER8

OKAY FRIENDS; TERRIBLE ADVICE

ADAM

“My junk looks huge.”

I push away the photo currently being shoved in my face. “Get it outta my face.”

Carter pumps his brows. “Intimidating, huh? You don’t have to tell me.” He flips through the photos on his phone before he leans into his wife, who sits at the end of the table with Ireland strapped to her chest. He drops his voice, but not low enough that I can’t make out his words. “Don’t you think the sword of thunder looks massive in my dick pics?”

“For the love of God, Carter, it’s called an underwear shoot, not dick pics.”

“Tomato, tomahto. I’m gonna be all over North America.”

She yanks his phone out of his hands, tucking it in her bag. “Stop looking at pictures of yourself. Your friend is asking you for advice.”

He waits for her to walk away, watching with a smile as she joins a small girl playing with dolls. He braces his hands out between us. “Okay, here’s what you do. You wait at least five days, and hopefully she calls first. When she does, you hesitate, like you’re trying to place the name.”

Garrett stares at Carter. “That’s the worst advice I’ve ever heard. Ollie would’ve broken your nose if you tried that on her.”

“She’d have to be able to reach my nose first.”

“I canhear you!” she calls across the room.

Emmett shakes his head, stringing a glittery pink butterfly bead onto a thread. “Listen, man, if you like her, you call her. There’s no rule about how long you need to wait.”

“The sooner, the better,” Garrett adds from his spot on the floor, where a little boy is sitting between his legs, looking through a book about animals. “It shows you’re serious.”

I look at Jaxon. His eyes are closed as a girl dusts bright purple eyeshadow over his lids, then sticks two holographic flower stickers to the outside corners of his eyes.

He cracks a lid. “What are you looking at me for? I don’t call girls after a date, period.” Sarah, the girl currently doing his makeup, kicks his shin. “Ow, fuck! I mean, crap. Crap, what was that for?”

Sarah props a fist on her hip. “No girl is ever gonna love you with that bad attitude, Jaxon.”

“My mama loves me. She’s the only girl I need.”

“Whatever. Tell me that again when you come crying to me for advice because the girl you like won’t call you back.”

“Why would I—ugh, never mind. You’re eleven. You’re not getting under my skin.” Jaxon points at me as Sarah uses a butterfly clip to pull his hair off his forehead. “My point is this: don’t ask me for advice, because I don’t have any. You and I date for two very different reasons.”

Sarah scrunches her nose. “Why would you date for any other reason than to fall in love and get married?”

“Because I like to f—” He stops, holding my glare. “I love friends. I love making friends. So many friends. Why pick just one, you know?”

A tiny hand touches mine, and Lily’s wide chocolate eyes peer up at me.

“Your friends are weird,” she whispers.

“So weird,” I whisper back. “But I’m stuck with them.”

She snickers into her hand. “At least you have me. I’m not weird.”

“And you’re my favorite of all my friends.”

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