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“Am I interrupting something?” Gale huffed out a laugh at her unconscious echoing of Ezra’s words and he raked a hand through his hair. Jude’s gaze went from him to me to the food and she motioned toward her room. “I can hang out in there if somebody has a... date. Or whatever.” Was it me or did the set of her mouth look a little sour?
I strode to her and took her shoulders, directing her toward the table with all the fixings spread out. “No. This is for us. All of us. Ezra—” I pulled her bag from her shoulder and set it by the door to her room. “A margarita for the lady, please.”
Ezra placed a drink in her hand with a flourish.
“I don’t understand.” Jude looked suspiciously at the drink and then Gale, who shifted uncomfortably on the chair before standing.
“It’s a bonding exercise,” he said. “Baron thinks we’ll all get along better if we share tacos and margaritas. I’m going to eat some chips.”
“You’re the only one struggling to get along,” I shot back, growing annoyed with his tantrum.
“Okay, well… I think I’ll just take this margarita and go to my room.” Jude turned to leave.
“No!” Ezra stepped forward and grabbed her arm. “Please stay. You’ve been doing a lot for us recently, and we just want to return the favor.”
“No, that’s really not necessary —”
“We just want to eat a meal together and have a good time,” I said. Jude hesitated, her eyes moving to Gale, who sat in stubborn silence on the couch. “Please.”
Her shoulders sagged as she relented. “Fine. Thank you.” She took a sip of the margarita and her eyebrows went up. “This is good. “
“That’s because I am the drinks master,” Ezra said, and pulled her to the sofa. “Now tell me how you like your tacos and I’ll fix you a couple. Gale, why don’t you pick a movie?”
Gale grumbled but picked up the remote and Ezra and I exchanged looks. I mimed drinking and with a nod, Ezra carried a margarita to Gale, as well.
“I’d rather have a beer,” he muttered.
We ignored him.
I leaned over the back of the couch behind Jude, brushing aside a lock of her hair so I could whisper in her ear. “What do you like on your tacos?” Maybe the least seductive question I knew, but she shivered nonetheless as my breath murmured across her nerve endings, tilting her head a fraction to the side to grant me greater access.
“Umm… I can fix them.”
“Nope. You’re going to sit there with your feet up and let us take care of you.”
“Why?” I could barely hear her.
With my hand in her hair, I angled her face so I could see her eyes. “Because it’s what we should’ve been doing all along. Now what kind of tacos do you like?”
“Baron… umm…” I massaged my fingers into her scalp and she went boneless, the argument dying on her lips. “... do you have chicken? Or beef?”
“Chicken, beef, and shrimp.” God, she was sweet. I knew my friends were right there, watching every move I made, but I couldn’t help taking a taste. I ran my nose along the tendon on the side of her neck and kissed her softly at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. She let out a low moan, biting her lip to stifle it when Gale snorted beside her and shifted, staring intently at the television as he scrolled furiously through the Netflix menu.
In the kitchen, Ezra laughed, low and dark.
“I can’t decide…” she finally answered. “Just… anything.”
I straightened with a satisfied grin. “Coming right up.”
Ezra and I fixed a plate for her with three tacos, one chicken, one shrimp, and one beef, and added piles of fixings for her to dress them as she wanted.
“Gale? Chicken for you, right? Bawk, bawk?” I hadn’t meant it as a dig, but Gale shot me a dirty look.
“Beef.”
He finally settled on some movie about an apocalyptic meteor shower and Ezra and I made short work of fixing the rest of the food and carrying it to the living room. Ezra settled on the opposite side of Jude and I lowered myself to sit at her feet, leaning back against the couch.
We ate quietly for several minutes, the only sounds the crunch of shells and the television. I finished long before anyone else and set my plate on the table, then leaned back again, this time tucking my shoulder up against her leg. Reaching over, I wrapped my hand around her leg and pulled her calf over my shoulder and across my chest. After a squeak, she relaxed against me, and I lowered my hand to her foot.
