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"Scope it out tonight," she said.
I smiled. "I will. I'll let you know who's all at the house."
I closed my trunk and smiled at her.
"You're seriously the luckiest girl in the world," she said. "And you're beautiful," she added rolling her eyes and pretending to be mad. "It's so freaking frustrating." She was clearly joking, and she smiled and reached out to hug me. "You're going to kiss him tonight. Text me later and let me know how it went," she said.
"Kiss who?" I asked. "I'm not thinking about kissing anybody. I'm just going over there to eat."
"Who did you think I was talking about?" she asked.
I shrugged and looked at her with wide eyes. "AJ?"
"Yes," she said. "And it's funny that you didn’t know who I meant. You thought I meant Charlie, and I was talking about AJ. You kissed AJ last time he was in town."
"He kissed me," I clarified.
"Are you going to kiss him back if he kisses you again?"
"I have no idea," I said, smiling and shaking my head at her. "I haven't even thought about that. I'm just going over there to deliver their dinner."
"And eat with them," she said.
"And eat with them," I agreed.
I told myself that there was nothing to be nervous about. Technically, there wasn't. I had no real plans with any of them. I was doing them a favor by delivering their food. I felt anxious as I made the forty-minute drive to their property, and I reminded myself that I didn't have to stay and eat if I felt uncomfortable.
I had brought the Morgans food before, and I did the same thing I did last time and carried the large insulated bag to the side door. I knocked, and AJ Cameron was there to let me in.
"Hey, gorgeous," he said, smiling at me. He had light brown hair and ice blue eyes, and it was his destiny in life to be a lady-killer.
"I saw you pull up. Let me take this." AJ reached out for the bag, and I handed it to him. Charlie came into the room just as AJ leaned in to take the bag, and I performed an awkward hug as I gave him the burgers.
He looked different—Charlie did. He had cut his hair and shaved, and I hadn't been expecting that. My heart raced a little at the sight of the old Charlie.
"Burgers," I said, talking to both of them and trying not to get tripped up on Charlie's clean-shaven face. I assumed he didn't want to have to answer questions about being alone in the woods all these months and he took my advice about shaving. I figured he wanted to be as discreet as possible. The haircut helped, too. I glanced around to keep from staring at him.
Other people were there. I saw Astrid, Danny, and their kids Beau, AJ, and Rose. There were also a few people I didn't recognize, and I figured I would end up meeting them later.
I felt underdressed. I had changed after work, and I put on shorts and a t-shirt, but I regretted it since everyone there was so beautiful and handsome at this house. There was nothing like a house full of gorgeous people to make a girl question her clothing choices. I stood up straight, trying to make the most of my casual outfit.
"I like your braids," AJ said.
"She never wears her hair like that," Charlie said.
"I like to wear braids, it's just been a while. I stopped at The Black Skillet to pick up these burgers, and my friend's mom did it for me while I was waiting."
"Hey, Hope," Astrid said from across the room. Several other people called out to me, and I waved and yelled a general greeting into the room.
"You're hanging out with us, right?" AJ turned and asked the question from over his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah," I answered.
Charlie and I walked behind AJ and he reached out to give me a sideways hug. He took me into one arm, squeezing around my shoulder. I didn't know how he was planning on hugging me, and I turned and patted him on the back.
"Hey, Charlie," I said. "How are you?"
"Good. How are you? How was your day at work?"
