Page 221 of Fighting Chance

so much for being best friends

BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER

no friendships ending in the group chat

go make up

IRVING

aye aye spider monkey

Wiping my mouth on a napkin, I laugh in unison with Grayson, who’s reading the same text thread I am. Fucking Irving and his shenanigans.

Bella pauses whatever she was saying to Layla and turns to us. “Do I even want to know?”

“Irving,” Grayson says around a laugh.

And that’s certainly enough for Bella to understand. Layla pouts. “I feel left out.”

Grayson’s eyes widen. “You haven’t shown her the IceHawksgroup chat? Dude, you’re robbing the woman of some serious comedy.”

A teasing smile dances along her lips as she cocks a brow at me. “Yeah Ashford, why haven’t you blessed me with your boys’ chat?”

I arch my brow right back. “How come you haven’t blessed me with your girls’ chat?”

Bella gasps across the table. “That’s sacrilegious.”

Layla doubles down. “You heard her.”

Emmy pops up from where she was sitting with Bambi on the patio and runs down the stairs into Grayson’s backyard, Bambi hot on her heels, as they wind through the trees.

Wrapping a hand around one of Layla’s chair arms, I pull her closer to me, savoring the way her eyes widen. I lean down, brushing my lips across the shell of her ear and whispering, “You’ll have to trade me a life list item for the group chat.”

With one glance across the table, I note Grayson and Bella are too engrossed with each other to see the way Layla’s cheeks flush.

“Deal,” she breathes.

“Make it two.”

“Greedy.”

“Always for you.”

She moves back enough to meet my gaze. “How far back can I go?”

“A year and eleven months.”

“That’s very specific.”

“That’s when I met you.”

Her eyes flash. “Is that so?”

“Mm-hmm. That’s when the obsession started.”

She rolls her eyes. “You were not obsessed.”

“I sent you multiple texts a day for over a year…without a response.”