33. 33
Coco stands, hands on hips. “You’re crashing?”
Jude cups a hand to his wife’s cheek. “Not crashing. Eating. We were eating when Meredith found us.”
“How’d you guys get a room back here?” Miles asks, peering around the table and four chairs.
“If you slip the host fifty bucks, you get a little privacy,” Annie says, lifting one shoulder, her eyes on Owen.
I am surrounded by a bunch of yuppies in love and it’s starting to suffocate me. We are outnumbered!
“Delaney!” Miles’ youngest brother beams. Wowza, that kid is handsome. His long arms stretch out wide, and I am pulled into a giant Cooper bear hug.
“Coop.” Miles groans.
Coco smacks Cooper’s arm. “Stop suffocating her.”
“I’m welcoming her,” Cooper says, though all their voices are a little muffled as the kid is legit smothering me.
He lets go and I can breathe once more.
“I’ll ask for more chairs!” Annie disappears behind the door, and she’s back with a frowning Kevin.
Our waiter isn’t shy about his annoyance. “What happened to married, married, married, engaged?” he says, pointing to each of us as Annie did before.
Annie tilts her head, grinning, so proud of her cleverness. “Husband, husband, husband, fiancé,” she says, pointing to each man. She pauses when she gets to Coop. “And, ah, brother.”
“Single!” Cooper says. “And ready to mingle. Feel free to share that with any ladies you might serve tonight, Kev.”
Kevin might be a foot shorter than Cooper and half his size, but he looks at him like he could possibly take him down. He will not be telling any single woman that Cooper is back here and ready to mingle. Still, he says, “I’ll be sure to do that.”
We spend the next two hours eating, talking, and laughing. I watch Annie, Coco, and Meredith. I even mimic them from time to time. Annie grabs Owen by the chin once and I attempt the same action, dabbing some nonexistent sauce from Miles’ lip. Coco slips her fingers through Jude’s on the tabletop and I do the same to Miles.
Levi has an arm around Meredith at all times and I sort of want to elbow Miles and tell him to step up his game.
“So you’re on this show, looking for a husband, and then suddenly you meet my brother.” Cooper pops another French fry into his mouth—Levi’s French fry. His are long gone.
“Did you watch Celebrity Wife?” Meredith asks him.
“Oh yeah. Didn’t miss an episode.” Cooper runs a hand through his dark blonde hair.
“You’re kidding,” Levi grumbles. “You watch that junk?”
Meredith pinches Levi’s side—we all see it, it’s no secret. He jumps but doesn’t call her out.
“Show. I meant show.” His lips fold in on one another. “Sorry,” he mutters to me.
“I call it junk too,” I say with a sardonic smile. “No worries.”
Cooper just laughs at our exchange, then goes on like we haven’t just called something he watched every episode of junk. “Delta Zeta watched it every single Thursday and I was the only guy invited.” His mouth spreads into an ear to ear Bailey grin.
Coco and Annie glance at one another. Annie’s eyes roll back, but Meredith giggles. “Pretty smart,” she says.
“Thanks, Mer. It was smart. I got multiple dates out of the deal—I mean, until the ladies realized multiple dates were happening and then I got uninvited, but by then I was invested. I finished it out with some girls in my apartment building.”
“Are you in law school or at a constant frat party?” Levi asks him.
“Hey, I work my butt off ninety-five percent of the time.”
“So, you make that remaining five percent really count, huh?” I ask.
“Exactly. Lane gets it.” Cooper nods. “So, how did this happen?” He waggles a finger between his brother and me.
Miles is quiet—too quiet. I opt for mostly true. “The show wasn’t my idea or my plan. My manager thought it would help boost this newish image I’m going for—”
“New image?” Cooper reaches for another one of Levi’s fries. Levi flicks him on the wrist, but Coop doesn’t seem to notice.
“Yeah. I’m officially no longer a Judy.” I swallow—it’s still a strange thing to say.
Annie gasps, but Coco doesn’t look surprised. Miles must have told her. “No more music?” Annie asks. She’s practically sitting in Owen’s lap. Do those two share a hip or something?
I clear my throat and look away. “Of course, music. I can’t quit music. I just want to go in a different direction. The Judys didn’t want to come, and I never should have expected them to—” It’s a realization that hits me as I sit here explaining myself. “So, with the recent rejection in my life, my manager thought some good PR, some acceptance”—I lift my brow—“some very public romance would help. Only I wasn’t into it. I wasn’t ready. In the end, it all blew up in my face and only made things worse—my career is at an official all-time low.”
“I don’t know. That show may have still helped your image—more than you realize. I know a lot of people who respect your honesty,” Coco says.
I appreciate her grace. But most people don’t see it that way. They see my dishonesty from the very start. I didn’t want to be there. I never truly embraced the concept, and now that everyone is looking back, that’s fairly clear.
“So then—” Cooper looks at Miles beside me. “What happened?”
“Miles?” I turn my head and peer at my stupidly cute husband. “Miles wasn’t planned. Miles wasn’t calculated. Miles was completely unexpected.”
As if on cue, he presses a kiss to my forehead, sending small shoots of electricity throughout my limbs and jarring memory sparks to my lips. Yep, they recall Miles” kiss, very well.
Oh, Miles.
Quiet but deadly Miles.