Feels like Trouble (Lake Fisher 4)

“He did not pick me.” She looks offended. “I picked him. He just had the good sense to go along for the ride.”

I kick my feet, letting them swing below me as Barbara-Claire watches her girls out of the corner of her eye. “How did you know Junior was the one?” I ask, my voice quiet, as I look over my shoulder to be sure no one is listening. “I mean, was there something that happened? Some event that tipped you over the edge?”

She shakes her head. “No, it was more of a feeling that my life was better with him than without him. It still is, even though he gets on my nerves sometimes.”

As in love as Barbara-Claire and Junior are, I’ve seen them fight, too. They can really go at it.

“So…” she says slowly, “anything happen when Grady spent the night?” She looks at me from beneath lowered lashes as a grin teases the corners of her lips.

I shrug. “We slept. That was it.”

She glares at me. “In the same bed, though, right?”

“On opposite sides.”

“No cuddling?”

I shake my head. “None.”

“Didn’t wake up with his dick poking you?”

I shake my head again and bite my lips together. “Sadly, no.”

She blows out a frustrated breath, her lips vibrating. “Well, that’s disappointing.”

Tell me about it.

“I kissed him today,” I blurt out suddenly. Then I bury my face in my palms, groan, and then stare up at the darkening sky.

“What? I hope you mean like a kiss kiss.”

“Is there any other kind?” I stare at her, trying not to laugh at how giddy she is about this.

“Like…with tongue?” she whisper-hisses at me.

“No, we just bumped lips, pretty much. He ducked to kiss me and popped me in the forehead with the brim of his baseball cap. So I grabbed his face.” I grab hers to show her how it went. “Then I kissed him.” I lean toward her like I’m going to do it to her—

I hear a whistle from behind us and instantly drop my hands.

“Hang on a minute now,” Junior calls. “If y’all are going to do that, I’m going to sell some tickets. Daddy needs a new rifle.”

“You do not need a rifle,” Barbara-Claire yells back. “You need a washer and a dryer, because you’re falling behind on the laundry.”

“Kill-joy,” he mutters.

He hands Barbara-Claire her chili cheese fries, and she kisses him on the cheek. She makes a loud smooching sound with her lips, and he grins. He opens up his barbecue sandwich and starts to eat it. But suddenly one of the girls starts to cry on the playground.

“Can you watch Marcy?” Barbara-Claire asks. She doesn’t even wait for an answer. She stalks toward the playground like a soldier stalking into a battle. Junior follows her.

Grady hops up to sit next to me and passes me my sausage dog. “Thanks,” I say with a smile. I pick a long string of mustard-smeared pepper off it, tilt my head back, and drop it into my mouth.

“So you and Bee-Cee got a side thing going on that I don’t know about?” he asks with a grin. “I mean, if you do, it’s okay. I’m not jealous.”

I roll my eyes. “I was reenacting that sorta kinda kiss we had earlier.” My cheeks heat up as I say it.

“I could have done a better job with that if I hadn’t tried to give you a concussion with my cap.” He chuckles as he takes a bite of his pulled pork sandwich. I reach over and pick a piece of pork off it. He extends it toward me so I can take a bite, but I wave him away. He lifts his cap and spins it around. Then he leans toward me.

He takes me completely by surprise when he kisses me. His lips touch mine, and instead of a simple meeting of lips, he actually kisses me. His lips part, and he lifts his free hand to cup th