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I shot her a look.
“Oh, I heard about that. Azalea Carlton was in the café this morning telling everyone you were kicked out of the grocery store for making out.” Ivy grinned at me. “I said it was likely that the only part of that that was true was that you were in the grocery store together.”
“Thank God you’ve got brains.” I closed the door and sat back down. “I don’t know why everyone suddenly thinks we’re getting married.”
“You’ve basically been dating for six months, to be fair.” Holley started scanning books. “You just didn’t know it.”
“We haven’t been basically dating for six months. We had little to no personal interaction outside from hooking up. This is a whole other ball game for us. We couldn’t even get past the fruit without bickering about apples.”
“You’ll do it,” Ivy said, sitting down and passing Tegan a teething ring. “I think you’ll figure it out. There’s a very fine line between love and hate and you two have hated each other for so long, it’s really not surprising that you’ve flip-flopped to the other end.”
“I agree with that,” Kinsley said.
“I never said I loved him,” I retorted.
“No, you told him that, though.” She grinned. “He told me. It was kinda cute, actually. You know when you’ve baked cookies and a kid wants one right from the oven, but they have to wait? Then they’re super happy when they finally get it? A bit like that.”
“Are you… Are you calling me a cookie?”
Saylor stood up slowly and walked toward the storeroom. “This is getting weird. I’m going to unpack stock.”
“No, I’m just—never mind.” Kinsley rolled her eyes.
“What are you doing today?” I asked Ivy as she caught Tegan’s teether and handed it back before it hit the ground.
“Nothing. Story of my life.” She smiled wryly. “I actually wanted to ask if you if you’d mind having Tegan tomorrow night.”
“I don’t see why not. Are you guys finally going on a date?”
She nodded. “Kai asked his boss if he could have the day off, and he said yes.”
“I’ll have her. Do you want to bring her to my place or should I come to yours?”
“Come to ours. I’ll make sure the spare room is ready for you. She is teething, but the tooth just cut today so she should be calmer.”
“Nice timing.” Holley snorted. “Rather you and me. I got a tooth last time. I don’t think I slept at all.”
“Can I change my mind?” I looked at Ivy. “Please?”
She laughed and stood up. “Nope! You’re locked in now.”
“Damn it. What time do you want me?”
“Seven? It means I can feed her and bath her so she’s ready for bed.”
“All right, all right.”
“You’re the best friend in the world,” she sang, pushing Tegan toward the door.
I got up and opened it again for her with a flat look. “Mhm. Remind your husband that he promised me pizza.”
“I will. And you can bring your boyfriend.” She flashed me a shit-eating grin and pushed the stroller out of the store.
I shut the door behind her and looked at the girls. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“Slept with my brother in secret,” Kinsley replied.
“Didn’t tell us the second you sorted things out,” Holley added.
“Haven’t told us how good in bed he is!” Saylor shouted from somewhere in the back.
“I will pass on that conversation.” Kinsley held up her hands. “Please wait until I’ve left the building for that particular one.”
“Done and done,” I said. “I don’t intend on talking about that anyway.”
“He must be good. You fight all the time but somehow managed to keep that secret for so long.” Holley scratched her chin.
“I said no!” Kinsley shuddered and ducked behind a bookshelf. “I don’t want to hear about my brother in the bedroom!”
The door opened again with the old bell ringing and the topic of our conversation himself appeared. “You know I can hear you outside, right?”
Kinsley poked her head around the bookshelf. “I don’t want to hear it inside,” she grumbled.
“Oh, is this… karma?” Colton asked, eyebrows raised.
“What?”
He strolled over to me, bent down, and kissed me.
“Ugh, God.” Kinsley shuddered again.
“Karma!” Colton called after her. “For all the times I’ve seen you and my best friend making out.”
“We aren’t turning this into a competition, are we? I don’t have any Chapstick.” I wrinkled my face up.
Holley flipped a book over. “Some on the counter. And about five hundred in the stock room.”
“Not helping,” Kinsley yelled.
“Don’t care!” she called back.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and looked at Colton. Is this my life now?”
“Basically,” he replied. “I thought you were working.”
I pointed to my laptop. “I thought you were working,” I shot back.
Mimicking me, he pointed to his dirty shorts.
“No.” I snorted. “That’s not how it works.”
“I’m on my lunch.”
“And getting my store dirty,” Holley said pointedly. “Thank you for that. You owe me a bottle of floor cleaner.”
