“That you don’t need them,” he told me as he reclaimed his chair after setting a fork and knife down. “Which is perfectly fine. I want to give them to you, so nyah.”
Still, the French toast was amazing, and I sprinkled the powdered sugar on before I flipped open the box.
“Besides, I already gave you this once.”
Inside was my charm bracelet, all the new charms in place—including a C and a J added to it and key. That was new. “When did you snitch it?” I’d had it on the night before.
He grinned. “Good night kisses are almost as fun as good morning ones.”
Heat scorched my cheeks. At the restaurant, he’d kissed me pretty damn soundly against the car because he had to go. I hadn’t even felt him slip the bracelet off.
Guilt stabbed at me.
“Uh uh,” he said, lifting it out and snapping it on my wrist when I held it up. “It was a surprise, and Coop and Jake were under orders to distract you.”
“Well,The VelociPastordefinitely did that.”
He blinked. “The what now?”
Warmth flooded beneath the delight as I studied the bracelet. The letters surprised me even more than the fact he’d taken it to add the new charms. He’d told Coop he’d have to get his own, but apparently, Archie decided to fix it himself.
They were right, Archie did want to fix everything. Catching his hand, I leaned in and kissed him. Thankfully it was a much more minty kiss following the shower and brushing my teeth.
“It’s a movie,” I said as I poured the syrup and grinned at him. “About a pastor who turns into a velociraptor and fights criminals and ninjas.”
The words bullshit were stamped all over his expression.
“No lie,” I promised him. “It was absolutely horrible in every possible wonderful way.”
And I had almost as much fun telling Archie about the movie as I had watching it with Jake and Coop.
The whole time, I savored not only the most excellent French toast ever, but also Archie’s expression. When Jake wandered back in, he joined me in the retelling that Coop slid in to finish as they all devoured their breakfast burritos.
My new “normal” was all kinds of strange, and right now, I didn’t want it any other way.
Chapter Twenty
If you want to be a good girl…
The hot water bubbling around my feet was both weird and relaxing. Next to me, Rachel had her head tilted back and her eyes closed. The scent of roses swirled up from the water. The relaxing rose pedicure was what it was called, and Rachel grinned when she pointed it out to me. The sweet fragrance relaxed me, even if I hadn’t seemed that tense when I arrived.
The door jangled as Cheryl rushed in, breathless and flushed. “Sorry, I’m late!” She had her hair stacked up on top of her head in a messy bun, wisps escaping everywhere. Like me and Rachel, she was in shorts and a t-shirt, though she had a gorgeous tan going on. I suppose I wasn’t day-glo, but I hadn’t spent as much time outside as the rest of them.
Rachel grinned. “Now breathe deep and just relax. We’re not hurrying another part of today.”
“Pfft,” Cheryl said as they set up a chair on the other side of Rachel. “Says you. I still have a hundred and five things to do before tonight.”
“A hundred and five?” I leaned forward to look at her. “You have your dress and accessories, you’re about to do your nails. Other than hair and makeup, what’s next?”
“I can’t eat,” Cheryl said. “I don’t want anything to mess up the lines of the dress. I needed to pack an overnight bag carefully. Didn’t want Mom to see it.”
Yeah, I wasn’t asking.
“I have to pick up a present.”
A present?
The lady working on my feet tapped one of my ankles after she’d set up, and I lifted it out of the water. “Why a present?”