Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
“He really is,” Chick said with an eyebrow waggle.
“If you like great cheekbones and don’t remember the ‘what’s grosser than gross?’ phase he went through in middle school.” Bernie wrinkled her nose, apparently having flashbacks. “But he’s on our side, so he’s safe for tonight.”
“Safe from the two of you. I might have plans for him later.”
Bernie’s expression turned wicked. “So, unlike August here, you do like trouble.”
“I adore it.”
It was a little wild, seeing them side by side. Despite their physical and geographical differences, my first best friend and my last had more in common with each other than they did with me. They were both strong willed and confident of their place in the world. Both unapologetically danced to the beat of their own drummers and, until recently, they were both ridiculously more successful in the hookup department than I was.
Chick nodded once and got off his stool. “They’re all staring at us. I’d say it’s time to make our entrance.”
“We are the main attraction,” Bernie agreed easily.
We moved through the tables, only half of which were full tonight, until we reached the familiar group.
As I set down the final tray, Chick raised his voice enough to be heard over the music and scattered conversations. “Is this where I sign up to be a Lemon?”
Gene looked up from the plate of nachos, his eyes moving from Bernie to Kingston to me in growing alarm. “Did I miss something again? A birthday or anniversary?”
Lucy slapped him on the shoulder. “This isn’t another intervention, buddy. You’re good.” He turned his attention to us to explain. “He forgot Morgan’s birthday once and we had to have words as a family.”
“Once,” Gene emphasized. “Only once. She didn’t care, but none of you ever let me forget it. Birthdays are pointless holidays, created to sell cards and candy.”
“That’s Valentine’s Day,” Lucy corrected.
“Why would you celebrate being born?” Gene continued, sounding ornery. “You didn’t have anything to do with it. Birthdays are basically participation trophies, and you know how I feel about those.”
“You disapprove of them because they don’t build character,” Rick recited dutifully.
“Well, they don’t.”
“He could keep going like this for a while,” Bernie told Chick in an amused aside.
Lucy shook his head. “We’ve talked about this, Gene. Celebrating birthdays and anniversaries are the keys to a happy marriage.”
Gene frowned at him. “How do you know? You’re always in the doghouse. I celebrate my marriage every day. I don’t need a circle on the calendar to tell me to do it.”
I very tactfully neglected to point out how focused the three of them had been on their Lemons anniversary.
Partially rising from his seat, Gene held out his beefy hand to Chick. “Sorry about that. Chick, right? I heard you were coming for a visit. My wife says you work in the same industry her mother did, only you write for the movies?”
“That’s the rumor.”
“Nice.” He gestured to the seats across from him and his buddies and I somehow found myself bookended between a standoffish Wade and a fascinated Chick.
“What’s with the crowd?” Gene gave me an aggrieved look. “I thought we were finally talking about the race tonight.”
“We are. That’s why we’re all here,” Bernie answered for me.
“I told you she had caveats,” Lucy reminded him.
“Caveats,” Rick repeated glumly.
That tickled me, so I decided to go with it.
“Caveats.” I slapped my hand on the table for emphasis. “Three is usually the magic number, so now it’s true. But don’t worry. You’ll barely notice them.”
“Other than you taking a turn at the wheel—which I’m fine with, by the way,” Gene added dutifully, “what are we talking about here?”
“Let’s start him with something I know he’ll like.” Wade pointed his thumb at Kingston, who was straddling a backwards chair at the end of the table and fiddling with his camera. “Say hello to the man who’s making a documentary about you.”
I blinked. “Did we know about this?”
Bernie leaned around Chick. “Wade mentioned it on family night, remember? When you said Chick wanted to write about it?”
“Ah.” Right before my confrontation with Morgan, my drunken pity party and my sex-fest with Wade. No wonder I didn’t remember it.
“I was thinking of doing some interviews,” Chick said with a nod, now eyeing Kingston more as competition than a potential hookup. “This race sounds like a common-man, feel-good, underdog story that begs to be told.”
“That’s why I’m going to tell it,” Kingston responded smoothly. “Your last movie was about an alcoholic bounty hunter who was really a prince and his pansexual alien sidekick, right?”
Chick blinked at Kingston and, instead of looking insulted at the dig, he playfully fanned himself with his hand.
“He knows my work,” he whisper-shouted loud enough for the rest of the table to hear, making Bernie chuckle.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve got no problem with that,” Gene said, surprising absolutely no one. “I’ve always thought there should be a movie about us.”