“Can we just move on, please? I don't care how many people he's slept with.” Lie. “Let's go to the bookstore or something.”
“It's five, not six. Definitely.” Spencer looks up and meets Tobias' eyes, and then they both scowl at each other and look away.
“What does this conversation have to do with anything?” Church asks, sipping his to-go iced coffee. The man has a problem. I'm not sure when his birthday is, but I'm buying him an IV bag full of espresso, and a drip line to plug that shit right into his bloodstream.
“Chuck and Spencer are an item,” Micah says, tucking his hands into his pockets, this sort of far-away look on his face. I'm desperate to unpack that expression, but instead, I'm left tripping over his words. What did he just say?
“An item?” I ask, and Spencer glances over at me in question. I'm not prepared to answer the question in his eyes, so I turn my attention to Ranger who doesn't seem unsympathetic to my plight. “Bookstore?”
“We're not going to the bookstore,” the twins answer together, starting up their twin routine again. “We hate Jeffrey.”
“Why?” I ask, and they both shrug. I'm starting to learn that at least part of the twin routine is a defense mechanism, a way to deflect questions they don't want to answer.
“Jeff and Jenica went to school together; his sister bullied her mercilessly at Everly before she transferred,” Ranger supplies, frowning hard. He shrugs his shoulders. “Church is such an addict, he goes in there for his coffee, but the rest of us have boycotted the place.”
“I'm just scouting it out, so that my parents can arrange some fun, legal gymnastics for the Rabots to hop through. One day, the Montague family will own the store, the way we own the rest of the town.”
“You sound like one of those awful villains in an app game,” I snort, pushing some strands of shiny, straight hair from my face. Since I wear it curly most of the time, I thought I'd switch things up. “Little does this cute small town know, my evil corporation will be taking over! Mwahaha!” I imitate Church, lifting my chin, crossing my arms over my chest, as I squint my eyes and purse my lips the way he does sometimes. Pretty sure he doesn't even know he does it.
“I look nothing like that,” he says, but he almost smiles. Instead, he holds onto that dark neutral mood of his and glances over his shoulder. Jeffrey Rabot is putting a chalkboard sign out on the curb, advertising half-priced mochas. “But maybe we should do another scouting mission? Just to see if the good ol' boy Jeff might somehow be playing a part in this nonsense.”
“Like he's going to crack and just admit his involvement,” Spencer says with a roll of his gorgeous turquoise eyes.
“It's all about the little tells,” Church says, and my mouth drops open as he winks at me. Is the guy a mind reader? “Come along, Charlotte. I'll buy you a mocha.” He pauses and looks me over again. “Poor people do like mochas, don't they?”
“Jesus,” I groan, grabbing his hand and taking off down the sidewalk. I wave at Jeff as we approach, and he frowns.
“Charlotte,” he says warily, looking me over. His blue eyes immediately fall on the hand that's clasped over Church's. “I wasn't aware you two were close.”
Church chucks his empty coffee into the nearby trash can, and then throws an arm around my shoulders, beaming happily.
“Oh, we're besties, didn't you hear?”
“Fuck off, Church,” Jeff says, but he steps back and lets us into the bookstore anyway. Spencer is right behind us, this determined set to his expression that I just know is going to come back and bite me in the ass later.
Jeff starts to close the door when Ranger and the twins appear, like a general with his two best soldiers. There's this long, awkward moment where Jeff and Ranger stare at each other, and then the three of them walk in and the smell of fresh paper and ink settles over me.
“I need a new reverse harem read,” I mumble, releasing Church's hand and then rubbing my palm on the front of my dress. Church notices and smirks.
“Find one, and I'll buy it for you. Might need to evaluate your options.” Church raises a honeyed brow, and tosses his head in the direction of Spencer and the twins.
“You know we don't like to share with anyone but each other.”
Right.
I highly doubt a reverse harem ending is in the cards for me.
“What's a reverse harem?” Spencer asks, picking up a hardcover book and turning it around to read the back. I still can't believe he's alive. Feels like a dream. I have to keep pinching myself to remember that life still hurts sometimes.
