Nothing Feels Better (Better Love 3)

“I wanna race,” Jude pouts when we get close. Jocelyn has laid out the blanket we brought, and he’s camped out on the corner with some matchbox cars, a coloring book, and markers. Pirate hat tilted to the side, but no pirate sword. Because that shit’s still hidden.

“We can race later, Meatball,” I say, and bend down to grab the frisbee. “You know how to throw a frisbee?”

I spend the next twenty minutes or so trying to teach Jude how to throw one. Trying and failing, but we still have fun. Jocelyn’s got her camera up and is snapping pictures, and her laughter does things to me. I want to keep her laughing. I want to keep that smile on her face; the one that puts her teeth on display and makes her eyes squint and her nose scrunch up. June and Jude have the same smile. Fucking adorable.

I’m running to catch June’s toss when a familiar man bun and ginger coif come into view. I catch the frisbee then freeze, glancing to where the J Squad is waiting for my return throw. When I look back at Riggs and Kelley, I see Bailey’s pink hair and Ivy’s blonde curls. Shit. I’m half a second from dropping my body to the ground and army crawling back toward Joss when Riggs sees me.

“Slipper Dick!” he shouts, and I smile and wave on instinct. Stupid move. I should have ignored them. Maybe they’ll just keep walking?

Nope, they turn off the sidewalk and start cutting through the grass right toward me. So, I turn quickly and run away. I can feel them following me, and I have only a matter of seconds to run damage control.

I sprint up to Jocelyn, and her smile falls flat when she sees the apology on my face.

“I’m sorry,” I breathe out. “I didn’t invite them, I swear. I really didn’t think they’d be here.”

Confusion flashes over her features, then her eyes trail behind me. I already know what she sees. A Thor clone, a ginger Ken doll, a punk pixie with perpetual RBF (resting bored face, thanks), and a bouncy blonde in Chucks. Damn it. The little parenthesis between her eyebrows returns, and a minute later, a giant hand comes down with a thud on my shoulder.

“Dick, I call you and you run away? Not cool,” Riggs scolds, and I turn around to face the group.

“You’ll never steal him from me with that behavior, J,” Bailey snarks, and I scowl jokingly at her. I laugh and try to subtly stand taller, broaden my stance, in an attempt to keep my friends from noticing the people behind me.

“Whatchya doin?” Ivy asks, and when I look at her, her eyebrow is popped. She can tell I’m hiding something. Fucking Ivy. Then her attention drifts away from me.

“Hi,” she says with a smile, eyes trained at my hip, and I look down to find Captain Meatball peeking out from behind my leg.

“You’re very pretty,” he says to her, and she beams.

“Thank you,” she says, flashing me a playful look before focusing back on Jude. “You’re a very handsome pirate.” He puffs up his chest, and I can’t help but laugh.

“Captain Meatball, these are my friends.” I point them out. “Riggs, Bailey, Kelley, and Ivy.” Then I bite the bullet and turn my body to the side, exposing Jocelyn and June. “Friends, this is Jocelyn, June, and Captain Meatball.”

“Oh, yeah, we’ve met,” Riggs says. “My roommate and I helped you unload your U-Haul.”

“Yeah.” Joss nods. “Thanks again for that.” She tries to laugh, but it’s tight and uncomfortable. I want to say something, anything, to relieve the tension, but I got nothin’.

“We were going to get some pizza,” Kelley says, cutting through the silence. “Texted you but you haven’t answered.”

“Weird.” I got the text. I just didn’t reply. I didn’t want them asking what I was doing because I’m a shit liar and I didn’t want them crashing my party. Fail on all counts.

“We’re gonna get pizza too.” Jude punctuates every word with a hop, and I smile at him and rub his little Velcro head. When I glance back at my friends, four pairs of eyes are on me and my shoulders tense.

“We came to throw the frisbee,” I say, pleading them silently not to ask questions. Abort your inquisition, I want to yell. Go. Away. Please.

“Cool,” Bailey says, then snags the frisbee from my hand and pushes past me. “We’ll play too.”

She’s such a tiny tyrant. She hates frisbee. She hates people. Pretty sure she’s allergic to social interaction. I turn around to tell her to get lost, but the way June’s eyes latch onto Bailey with interest stops me. Damn it. They really would get along...

I watch as Bailey says something to June, and June says something back. Bailey laughs, then June laughs. June rarely laughs. Double damn it.

I send Jocelyn yet another silent apology with my eyes, and she gives her head the tiniest, almost imperceptible shake. Sorry, I mouth, then turn back to V, Kell, and Riggs.

“Wanna play for a bit and get pizza after?”