Walker sat back and put his arm around Pen’s shoulders. “She felt bad about it if that helps.”
I would hope she felt bad about lying to me for months. As far as I knew, it was the only secret she’d kept from me.
“It helps some,” I murmured.
Our waitress brought out our food, and we all sat in silence for a few minutes as we ate. Lexie and I were starved since we hadn’t eaten since early in the morning, which seemed like ages ago. Pen had found a quaint little café that had a little bit of everything.
“You did good picking this place,” I said before I took another bite of my mini pancakes.
“Yeah, it’s good, or it could be because it’s been hours since we ate,” Lexie pointed out.
“You did good, babe,” Walker nodded. “How did you two like the show?”
“It was a damn good show. I wouldn’t normally go see a band play if I didn’t know their music, but your music sucked me in, and I was dancing along like I knew every word.”
“That’s a good thing.” He bobbed his head with an uptick of his lips.
“I’ll definitely be buying your music once I get home. I know my husband will love it too, so you’ve got three new fans. I know that’s not much—“
“No, it’s everything. It means a lot to me that you both liked our music. The whole band is astounded by the way everyone has embraced our music, and we have Pen here to thank for that. If it wasn’t for her giving us a chance, we’d still be playing at college parties and at the one bar that would let us play.”
I loved seeing the passion he had for his music and how humble he was.
“That gives me all the feels. I’ll have my husband download it and do something on his Instagram story, TikTok, or something like that showing that he’s listening to it. You’ll have a lot of new fans or at least sales if he does that.”
“Get their IG handle as well so he can tag them. They’ll get a lot of new followers,” Pen instructed, going into manager mode.
Walker sat up straighter. “How many followers does he have?”
Lexie scrunched up her face in thought. “I don’t know. Let me look.” She pulled out her phone and smiled down at her phone. Her home screen was a picture of the happy couple in an exotic location with Delilah on her dad’s shoulders. It was a gorgeous shot of them. The moment she clicked on Instagram, it lit up with notifications as she went to Ryder’s profile. “He has a little over a million.”
“How does he not have more?” Pen questioned while her boyfriend blinked rapidly.
“While I don’t have nearly as many followers as Lexie or Ryder, like not even close, I could get a picture with you and post it on mine. Every little bit helps, right?”
“Your friends are too nice.” Walker’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he looked over at us. “I don’t have words for how grateful I’d be.”
“That’s enough for me,” Lexie said before she finished off the last of her pancakes.
“Me too,” I said around a bite of mine. The Dutch knew how to make some mean pancakes.
“I told you they’re the best.” Pen laid her head on his shoulder. She looked so serene as she snuggled up to him. It was a sight I hadn’t seen from her in all the years I’d known her. It looked good on her.
“You kind of have to say that about your friends.” He chuckled all low and rumbly.
“Clearly, you haven’t heard her talk about our friends Zelda and Reagan. Especially Reagan.” I couldn’t even say Reagan’s name without my lips curling up in a snarl.
“I can’t say that I have.”
“Yeah, I don’t always have the nicest things to say about the two of them. Mostly Reagan, but I’m not sure I’d count her as a friend anymore.”
“She’s certainly not mine,” I added.
Pen raised her hand in the air as our waitress went by and made a checkmark in the air, signaling for our check. “Do you want to go back to the hotel after this, or do you want to see the nightlife of Amsterdam?”
“I wouldn’t mind walking off some of these pancakes.” I patted my full belly. “Seeing a little more would be nice and then heading back. We did as much touristy stuff as we could after we checked in since both of us slept for most of our flight.”
“We even hit up the Red Light District. Although, I’m sure it’s much more entertaining at night than it was during the day.”
“Oh, we should go there.” Walker’s eyes lit up.
Pen rolled her eyes. “Of course, you want to go where the prostitutes are.”
“Are you jealous?” He pulled her close and lightly kissed the corner of her mouth. “It’s not like I’m going to do anything. They went, and you didn’t assume they paid for any services.”
The man made a point.
“Who knows if I’ll ever be back here? While I’m here, I want to see what the big deal is. Don’t you?”
She shrugged as if she didn’t want to, but I knew she wanted to go. Who wouldn’t?
Walker pulled Pen even closer and spoke against her ear. Pen looked down as her cheeks pinked up at whatever he said. I was pretty sure it was something dirty.
“You’re right.” She nodded. “You only live once, and who better to share this experience with than you three.”
Lexie slapped the table as she stood. “Now you’re talking. Let’s go. The only thing I ask is that we don’t do anything that will get us arrested.”
“What?” I nearly shrieked, turning on her.
Pen rolled her lips. “Did you see the look on her face? I thought she was going to pee herself.” Unable to hold
