Chapter 288
And I don’t ask.
Because I already know.
The girls drop into their seats across from us, Penny sliding close enough for her thigh to press against mine. I rest my hand on her knee
without thinking.
3
Mila’s checks are flushed from laughter, her eyes already locked on Boomer like she’s about to pounce.
“Oh good,” she says, mock-sweet. “You’re also here.”
Boomer raises an eyebrow. “Disappointed?”
“Not yet,” she says, flipping open her menu. “But give it a few minutes, I might get there.”
I glance at Penny. She’s already trying to stifle a grin.
Boomer leans back in his seat. “You know, most people flirt by being nice.”
“Oh honey,” Mila says, not even looking up. “If I wanted to flirt, you’d already be writing poetry about my eyes and giving up your Navy
pension to move to Paris with me.”
Penny snorts
—
full on, nose-scrunched, head-tilted-back kind of snort. It’s criminal how cute she is when she loses control like that.
Boomer doesn’t miss a beat. “Paris, huh? That’s your seduction plan? You know, I failed French in high school.”
“I’m not surprised,” Mila deadpans. “Too busy admiring your own reflection in the locker room mirror?”
1
“That was a good year for my biceps,” he says, flexing one dramatically.
“You say that like it’s not still the only thing going for you.”
Penny covers her mouth with her hand, laughing so hard her eyes start to water. I feel it, this ripple of warmth in my chest, watching her
lose it. She leans into me without realizing it, laughing straight into my shoulder.
Boomer holds a hand to his heart, mock-wounded. “Wow. Okay. That hurt. Asher, back me up here.”
I smirk. “Sorry, man. You walked straight into that one.”
“He dove into it,” Mila corrects, pleased with herself. “Headfirst. No parachute.”
Boomer points at her, grinning. “You’re evil.”
“And hilarious,” she counters, raising her glass in a toast. “To being right.”
Boomer clinks his water glass with hers. “To being roasted alive in front of a Navy SEAL and his ballerina girlfriend.”
Penny’s still giggling beside me. I rub circles into her knee with my thumb and feel the faintest shiver run through her. That tension I
know too well the one that lives under her softness, under her laughter, under every breath she gives me.
–
She calms eventually, glancing between them with flushed cheeks and glassy eyes. “You two are like… weirdly compatible in the most
chaotic way.”
Mila shrugs. “It’s a gift. I’m an equal opportunity menace.”
Boomer grins, but I don’t miss the way he looks at Penny after that. Like her laugh is something precious. Something worth being teased
for, if it means he gets to be part of it.
I tighten my hand on her knee, just slightly.
Mine.
She glances at me, then leans in to kiss my cheek. It’s nothing, a small thing, but I see the way Boomer looks down after. See the twitch in his jaw. The way he shakes it off with another sip of soda and another jab at Mila.
“Alright, menace,” he says. “What’s your deal with sushi? Do you actually like it, or are you just here for the aesthetic Instagram shots?”
“I am the aesthetic,” Mila replies, batting her lashes. “The sushi is just a prop.”
–
Penny nearly chokes on her water this time, and I think yeah. This, right here. This mess of laughter and sarcasm and stolen touches
under the table. This is peace. Not quiet, but real. Solid.
1
I could get used to this.
Even if Boomer still looks at her like he’s standing in front of something beautiful he can’t touch.
He’ll be okay. He’s tough. Loyal. And now, apparently, Mila’s verbal punching bag.
