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kiss to my lips. I breathe him in, cupping his cheek, memorizing the way he feels. I don’t care who’s
watching. I don’t care that his brothers are standing feet from us.
I don’t want this to end. Ever.
“You’re here,” I say in his ear when we separate, smoothing the fabric of his jacket over his
shoulder.
“Cara called us. She didn’t think having you ladies here alone was a good idea,” he murmurs,
rubbing his nose against my neck. I’m enjoying the shivers traveling up and down my back, so his
words don’t register right away.
I pull back, frowning at him. “We’re grown women. We don’t need babysitters,” I tell him, a little
offended at the implication. He raises his eyebrow and very pointedly stares at Abigail. She’s
dangling over the railing on her stomach, yelling in sheer joy as Nick holds onto her legs, laughing.
Declan’s right there with them, laughing too, not attempting to put any stop to their nonsense.
“Oh. Maybesheneeds a babysitter,” I mumble. Zach laughs and curls an arm around my shoulder.
“It’s a good excuse to spend time with you,” he murmurs.
“You saw me all day.” Why am I breathless? This is middle school boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Get
a grip, woman.
He shakes his head, fingertips playing with the hair on my shoulder. “No, we worked all day, and
Abby kept you busy.”
“Abby? She asked you to call her Abby?”
“Yeah. She said no one called her Abigail but you and the old man in her apartment building.”
I hum a response, but inside, I’m shrinking a little. Why wouldn’t she tell me she doesn’t like
being called Abigail? It seems like such a simple thing, but not knowing my friend prefers a nickname
feels like a pretty big friendship fail.
Zach runs a finger over the wrinkle between my brows, smoothing them. “Hey, what’s going on in
your head?”
I let my eyes wander to the other end of the couch, where Janey and Jonas are chatting. He’s got a
goofy smile on his face, and my heart gives a little pang. They would be a truly adorable couple, and
they make a lot more sense than Zach and I do. Zach and I are like a champion show dog and a rescue
getting together. What would those babies look like?
“Maya,” he asks again. My eyes snap back to his.
