Ricki winced. “Yeah, we gave ours the slip too. What excuse did you use? We used—”
“Sex,” we said in unison.
I shrugged. “It was the only way Cole would give us any privacy. Then he passed out. Poor guy had to sleep sometime.” I sighed. “Now I feel guilty. We should go back.”
Cooper shook his head. “We’re going to be on lockdown forever now. We have to make use of our last free day.”
“The guy has a point,” Mal agreed. “We’re fucked, regardless. Not like we can go back and say sorry.”
“I need to eat.” Ricki glanced at me. “Burgers and fries? We can go to Greasers, the place where we had our first date. Well, he didn’t talk to me for most of the meal, but I take what I can get.”
“You love what you get, Shawcross.” Mal gripped her ponytail and hauled back her head for a kiss that probably could’ve gotten them arrested in Times Square.
Forget the Naked Cowboy. This was close to live action porn.
I cleared my throat. “I’m up for burgers and fries.”
Neither of them appeared to hear me or care.
Cooper grinned at me conspiratorially. “I know you love meat.”
“Don’t start.” I pointed at him. “He’s a bad influence on you.”
“Says who?” He grabbed me around the waist from behind and nuzzled my neck. “Let’s just go. They’ll meet us eventually.”
My stomach growled and made the choice for me.
Halfway through our greasy burgers, I got a text from Ricki.
He played dirty and said we could start baby practice if we skipped lunch. He’s not fond of being social.
Since he doesn’t even talk to you on dates, I can see that.
We’ll hang out on the road? New buses. Eek. Exciting. I’ll sneak over for a sleepover.
I glanced at Cooper. “She wants to sneak over to our bus for a sleepover.”
He cocked a brow and continued shoveling in crispy fries. “Hope the bed fits three.” He leaned over to wipe grease off my chin. “Not that I don’t want you to have fun with your friend, but right now, I’d rather you be in my line of sight. Also, sex.”
He did have a valid concern. “The importance of that cannot be denied.”
I sent back a quick reply.
Only if you like threesomes. Cooper doesn’t go far.
I could work with that. ;) Anyway, we’ll spend some time for sure. Sorry today was a bust.
At least we got to not eat lunch together. ILY. Good luck with aiming at egg targets.
Thx. I love you back. Ttys.
“I got stood up for lunch twice today. That has to be a personal record.”
“Hello, I’m here, am I not?”
“And you’re the most important.” I took another bite of my juicy cheeseburger. “They’re making a baby.”
Cooper choked and nearly ejected a fry across the table onto my plate. “Right now?”
I glanced at my phone again. “Probably in twenty minutes, give or take. I’m not sure of Mal’s stamina. We share a lot, but even Ricki has some boundaries.”
“Do you? Never mind.” He held up a hand. “Let me keep my illusions.”
I sighed. “We got precisely nowhere today. I didn’t think we would, but I still had hope. Now we’re getting back on the road tomorrow, and there’s so much to look forward to. Instead of thinking about all of that, I’m focusing on that pussy ass broad, to borrow Mal’s phrase. Although I’d say dick ass broad. I hate using that word as an insult.”
“Me too, since it’s basically the promiseland. Why waste such a well-loved body part on that chick?”
I pointed at him with a fry I swiped off his plate. I’d already eaten all mine. “You’re very wise. And your chances of getting lucky today are very good.”
He dumped his last few fries on my plate in the ultimate act of boyfriendly consideration. Assuming that was what he was.
“Are you my boyfriend?”
He gave me a strange look. “I don’t know. Am I?”
“I mean, what are we? What do I call you? Besides my flesh manservant.”
“I’m taking back my fries.” He laughed when I smacked at his hand. “What do you want to call me? Call us?”
“Together,” I decided. “Just together.”
“I like the way you think, Daly.” He picked up a fry to feed it to me. I couldn’t say I minded licking salt off his fingers.
Or other parts of him.
“What are we going to do today while we’re on the lam? Other than going to Jersey to see my folks.” I bit my lip. “Unless maybe a call would be better?”
“Nice try. I want to see those cheerleader pictures. And I want to talk to them too.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why?”
He grabbed some napkins and suddenly became quite occupied with brushing invisible crumbs off his shirt and pants. “You know, to reassure them about the security issues.”
“We have a bodyguard.” That we were not making use of at the current time but still.
“Right.”
I shook my head. “I can reassure them too, you know. My promiseland doesn’t mean I’m mute.”
“Yeah, so no big deal. Anyway, what do you feel like doing? Since we’ll be on the road tomorrow night. Last hurrah and all that.”
I toyed with the edge of my plate. “I feel guilty about Cole. Maybe we can buy him something?”
His brow spiked. “You want to buy our bodyguard a present because we ditched him?”
“Kinda?”
Cooper shook his head, his lips curving. “You’re entirely too good for me.”
“Have you forgotten all the ways I can be bad already?” I leaned across the table and stroked his scruffy jaw. “I’ll be sure to remind you again later. Oh, Standwick Music?”
“The store?”
“Yeah. I like to look. I haven’t had a chance for a bit. And maybe we could stop by the store to get stuff for dinner? We haven’t done an everything but the kitchen sink night for a while.”
“Sure.”
“That’s where we can get Cole’s present. I can already tell he’s a meat and potatoes guy.
