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The pointed compliment was not lost on Chris, but he was not going to argue with his mother in the middle of Shotguns with half the town listening in. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t told her countless times before that Kelly and him were just friends.
His father placed his hand on Chris’s mom’s back, and shook his head. “Leave them be. If they are meant to be, then it will happen without you meddling.”
“I don’t meddle.”
His father shot him a grin of conspiracy. “Don’t worry, we won’t be staying long. Just going to fill our bellies and take off. You have fun.”
As his father led his protesting mother away, he was suddenly lost in a crowd of well-wishers buying him drinks. Every once in a while, he’d catch a glimpse of Kelly in the crowd and by the fourth shot, he was pretty loopy.
That had to explain why his mother’s words kept haunting him.
She would make someone very happy.
Correction. Someone other than him very happy.
Why was that thought so depressing?
Chapter 5
Kelly came around the side of her car several hours later, wishing she’d remembered to leave the porchlight on. Her two-story Lindal home was dark and the cobblestone path to the steps was barely visible in the sliver of moonlight from above.
She held onto the car and gingerly made her way around to the passenger side. Kelly stared down at the ground, watching for movement. The last thing she wanted was to step on a snake by mistake. It didn’t matter what kind of snake; she was terrified of them all.
She opened the door to a very inebriated Chris grinning at her in the dome light, his short hair in disarray and his blue eyes heavy lidded.
“Happy birthday to me!” he sang.
Kelly laughed as she reached in to help him out. She grunted under his weight as she pulled him unsteadily to his feet.
“I think this was the best party you’ve ever given me.”
Kelly held onto his waist to keep him upright. “I’m pretty sure that’s the bottle of Jose talking.”
He threw an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze.
“Nope, it was all you. I appreciate it.” He gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek. “Wait? What about my presents?”
“We’ll grab them tomorrow.” She led him up the walkway to her porch, ready to abandon him if anything slithered across the ground.
“You could have taken me home. I’d have been fine.”
“I’d rather keep an eye on you.” She’d already made up the spare room for him, knowing how he liked to tie one on. It was kind of funny to see her so serious, proper best friend get shit faced once a year on his birthday. The rest of the time, he stuck to beer or a glass of wine.
“You are the best friend a guy could ask for.”
“Now you’re making me blush.”
She turned the knob on the front door, stumbling a bit as she balanced him. She pushed it open a crack and used their bodies to increase the gap when the door caught on her rug.
I really need to find a better place for that.
Kelly flipped the switch by the door and her living room lit up. Her cat, Pepper, lifted his black-and-white head from his position on the back of the large couch and yawned. He stretched his paws across the colorful quilt she always kept there, giving her otherwise brown-and-white living room a pop of color. She liked her furniture simple, and neutral, but made up for the boring palette with bright blankets and colorful paintings on the walls. She wasn’t much of an art connoisseur; she didn’t know what made a painting good or bad, she just bought what she liked.
Pepper watched them pass with sleepy eyes, before rolling onto his back...
And right off the couch. He landed on the wood floor with a plop and an affronted meow, as though it was Kelly’s fault he was such a dork.
“Hey, I could have told you there wasn’t enough room for tummy rubs.”
