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“Pretty much,” Gracie agreed. “But, I mean, she’s not wrong. We’ve all been to her house. Luna’s decor is… books. And bookshelves. That’s about it. Every wall has one. She stores them in the backs of her closets and under her bed.”
“One day, I would like to see some big, billionaire, romantic, real-life guy notice what a catch she is, drag her into a non-fantasy-world romance, and build her a Beauty and the Beast library,” Layna declared.
“That would be amazing. But I’m not sure Luna would even notice a hot billionaire standing in front of her trying to flirt with her. Speaking of reading, though,” Gracie said, wiggling her brows at Hope. “I hear you have a new hobby.”
“I read, like, two books. Everyone needs to calm down,” Hope said, shaking her head, clearly not comfortable having the attention focused on her. “Anyway… so you were stalked, beaten, and kidnapped. I think that officially makes you a Henchmen old lady,” she said, giving me a smile with dancing eyes even as Gracie hissed her name, likely trying to tell her to behave and be more gentle.
I didn’t need gentle, though.
“The guys need a new patch for their cuts. Have you been stalked, maimed, kidnapped, or blackmailed lately? You just might belong to a Henchmen. See the clubhouse for details,” I quipped.
“Might be a little long,” Hope said back. “Maybe a simple Are you a damsel in distress? See a Henchmen,” she suggested.
“Come on, that’s not fair,” Gracie said. “Not all…”
Then she trailed off, racking her brain.
“Can’t think of one who hasn’t been, can you?” Hope asked, smirking.
“I mean… Aunt Reese, right?” she asked, face scrunching up like she was having trouble remembering details.
“I think we can all agree that some of the moms and aunts could have handled themselves… eventually, right?” Layna said. “Just because the dads and uncles swooped in to help doesn’t mean that the chicks couldn’t have handled shit given a little more time.”
“True,” Gracie said, nodding.
“Speaking of handling ourselves,” Vi said, looking at me.
“I think I need another week, maybe two on my ribs and ankle, then I am so there. But I also need to do some stamina work. I was dying that day and I didn’t even have to run that far.”
“You can run with Sutton,” Gracie suggested. “Some days, if I’m out super early in the morning and feel weird about it, I will take his route and run a bit back from him. He’s too tall to keep up with, but he doesn’t run with music or anything, so he’d hear if, you know, a struggle went down.”
“You run?” I asked. “Voluntarily?” I added, putting some dramatic emphasis on the word.
“I like it,” she admitted. “I know, crazy. But it helps me clear my head. And gives me energy for the day.”
It was hard to imagine Gracie not having a boatload of energy. And if running was what gave that to her, well, that was one of those ‘good for you, not for me’ things. I figured I could fix my stamina on a bike. While watching a movie or something.
“So, Gracie brought all the magazines and shit. And likely forty different customized Pinterest boards,” Layna said. “I brought the snacks. And ordered the food. So, Kit and Ria will be bringing with them pizza, Chinese, tacos, and Pho.”
“Pho?” Hope asked, surprised.
“I had a craving,” Vi said. And when Vi wanted to eat something, there wasn’t a force on Earth that could stop her.
Gracie was pulling out the magazines while Hope squatted down, patting her knee for Nitro to come to her.
“What?” I asked as the girls all shared a look.
“Hope doesn’t usually… like dogs,” Gracie supplied.
Who didn’t like dogs? Like all dogs? Even the cute, fluffy ones that looked like teddy bears?
“I’ve never disliked dogs,” Hope insisted, rubbing under Nitro’s chin and getting his leg going. “I just don’t think it’s appropriate how people in this family gift animals to other people without asking,” she insisted.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you pet a dog before,” Layna said, watching her cousin with pinched brows as Hope started to rub Nitro’s belly as he rolled over.
“This couldn’t possibly have something to do with a certain man we know who has like twenty dogs, could it?” Vi asked.
“Fourteen,” Hope corrected, then winced, clearly giving them more than she’d intended to.
“Oh, no, don’t try to backpedal now,” Gracie said, eyes bright. “Now you have to tell us the whole story.”
And so she did.
But that was her story to tell.
As for my story that night, well, we got exactly no decorating done, but we ate and drank until we all were cry-laughing and unable to move.
We made Sully bring us over the blow-up mattresses from the club, since we were all too wasted to go anywhere.
