No.
No more cute little nicknames.Trouble is bad enough
I laughed under my breath, shaking my head as I walked.
JAXON
Ahhh, so you agree you're trouble
Good to know
SAVANNAH
*eyerollemoji* goodbye Jaxon
I slipped the phone into my pocket just as the front doors swung open and Ari and Jesse breezed in, sunlight and noise following them like an entourage.
Ari was mid-rant, hands flying.“—and I’m telling you, there is no way that ref didn’t have money on the game.No way.I’ve seen cleaner calls at a peewee tournament—”
“Morning to you, too,” I cut in.
They both looked up.
“Jax!”Ari grinned, beelining toward me.
“There he is.Birthday boy in the flesh.”
“Still got a few days,” I muttered, narrowly escaping his hug and laughing.
Jesse nodded at me, calm as ever.“You look… annoyingly cheerful.”
Ari squinted.“Yeah.Why do you look like that?”
I shrugged, sipping my coffee.“Like what?”
“Like you just got laid or you’re about to,”
Ari said.“Or like you’re hiding something.”
I shook my head.“You always assume I’m hiding something.”
“That’s because you usually are,” Jesse said mildly.
Ari snapped his fingers.“Savannah.”
I nearly choked.
“Oh my God,” Ari continued, eyes lighting up like he’d cracked a code.“You did get laid.By the way, you sneaky bastard.Savannah.You’ve been sitting on that for weeks?”
“It wasn't serious until recently,” I said.
“But why did Benji know before we did?”he pressed, pouting.“I like knowing stuff, too.”
I leaned back against the counter, jaw tightening just a fraction.I hated lying to them.These were my guys.My people.But Savannah had made it clear—no audience, no commentary, no extra complications.
Three weeks.Clean.Simple.
“Not everyone's a gossip like you, man,” I said, chuckling and slapping his shoulder.“I don't date—you guys know this—so I wanted to feel this out before I made it a whole thing.”
