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“Of course not.” Lexi wraps her arm around mine. “You're bankrolling most of this trip, which I’m probably going to thank you for for the rest of the day.”
”Like I said, no thank you needed. But if you do feel the need to thank me, all I need is for you to have fun and enjoy yourself.”
“Okay.” She smiles and lifts her head kissing me on my cheek, making me feel ten feet tall.
“Yeah, and Holden’s cool. I call shotgun with him!” Ryan walks ahead of us greeting my brother the same as Axel did before getting into the car.
“Hey, Shauna,” Drew says, then flicks his eyes to my brother with another uncharacteristic, almost hesitant, “Hey.”
To which my brother’s chin lifts with a, “Sup. So you riding with me?”
“I guess.” He gives a brief smile before quickly dropping back into his usual unbothered and doesn't care much state. “Or whatever.” He turns around in the opposite direction he was headed going to the back of the car and opening the passenger door behind Ryan.
Okay. I don’t know what’s happening there. Drew is a true enigma to me. One minute he’s a self-assured, cocky, smart mouth know it all surly teenager, then he’s the helpful brother who seems like he’d do anything to protect his sibling, like inside with getting Lexi on board for this outing, and then like just now with Holden, there’s this flicker as if he’s almost unsure of himself and his movements. Teenagers. I look at my brother and shrug. He just smiles one of his annoying smiles and winks at me. What the hell for, I don’t know.
I tune back into the conversation Lexi and Shauna are having. “Don’t worry about it. If I were in your shoes I would ditch my best friend too, to spend the day with Officer looking good and plenty, and he does look like he has plenty.” Her eyes boldly trail up my body, taking a brief stop below my waist.
“Okay…” I say, at a loss for words being so boldly assessed, but at the same time strangely admired and approved of.
Holden laughs, hooking an arm around Shauna’s shoulder, while Lexi yells, “Shauna, behave. He has cuffs and he knows how to use them.”
She looks at Lexi, brows raised. “You know I like a man who knows how to use the tools he’s got.” Then with a smoldering smile, she rasps, holding out her hands crossed at the wrist. “Arrest me, Officer, I’ve been a bad girl.”
Which does nothing but make my brother laugh louder, which makes me laugh, and Lexi shakes her head. “Pay her no attention. I think she was dropped on her head as a baby,” Lexi says with almost the same unimpressed facial reaction Drew usually wears daily.
“You know what would be a fucking great time?” Holden says, “If you came with us, Shauna.”
“I don’t know…this seems like more of a family-friendly outing thing. I’m not sure if I’m family-friendly enough for Lexi and the fine officer.”
“Please call me Noah. We’re going to an amusement park and for me, more is always better when it comes to fun.”
“Yeah, you should come, Shauna. I have an extra bathing suit and a shirt in my bag that you can wear if you want. Come on, say yes. We haven’t done anything like this since we were in high school, it’ll be fun,” Lexi pleads with her.
“You should come with us. If you’re worried about family-friendly shit, come on, I’m driving with two impressionable teenagers.” Holden smirks. “You can help me teach them the right way to live their teen years and corrupt the hell out of them.”
“You had me at corrupted. Heck yes, I’m going with ya.” She and my brother smile at each other.
Lexi groans. “My brothers are corrupt enough. I think you two should be careful, they might teach you a thing or two.
“No corrupting the youth,” I yell back to them as they get into his truck, and Lexi and I get in with Axel, already buckled and excited.
“Can I get corrupted too?” Axel leans forward excitedly and asks.
“No!” we say at the same time, looking back at him, then laughing as he frowns sitting back.
Thirteen
LEXI
“Oh my god, that was hilarious,” Shauna says to Ryan. “You should have seen your face when that guy jumped in and did the perfect belly flop, almost on top of you.”
“Laugh it up, but I almost drowned in the deep end of a fucking wave pool. Now I know how a sinking ship feels, and I got water up my damn nose.”
I walk next to them, smiling, as we stop in one of the food lines. My eyes scan around for Drew, Holden, and Noah. They went to get changed and to get hotdogs and french fries with Axel. “I did yell, ‘lookout and hold your breath!’”
“That’s like saying look out when you’re stuck in the middle of an intersection and a car is coming straight at you.” He waves his hand around. “No help at all.”
I shrug and wave ahead of me when I spot the guys coming our way just as the girl behind the counter says, next to Ryan. “You only got fries?” I say to Axel who is walking ahead of the guys, stuffing his ketchup-smeared face. So much so that he can’t talk clearly around all the food in his mouth. “Stop talking before you choke,” I tell him, taking one of his fries.
