The Bookworm's Guide to Dating (The Bookworm's Guide 1)

Good. Midday.

That meant I could take a shower, dry my hair, and read a few chapters of my book.

Bingo.***“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Kinsleeeeyyyyy, happy birthday to yoooouuuuuu!”

My cheeks flamed furiously as all my friends sang at the tops of their voices. The cake that was placed in front of me by Jasmine, Ivy and Holley’s mom, was absolutely divine. It was shaped like an open book; the cover was a dark brown, leather-look spine, and the pages were all intricately shaped to look like well-loved, well-thumbed pages.

And on the right page was a copy of the first page of Pride and Prejudice, one of my all-time favorite novels.

All right, the twenty-six candles somewhat ruined the ambience, and the sparklers were definitely on the extra side of a birthday cake, but I still couldn’t help but enjoy the overall effect.

Not to mention that they’d clearly thought through the cake. I was more of a run into the local grocery store and grab whatever’s left at the last-minute kind of cake buyer.

I obliged by blowing out all the candles. It took me two breaths, but that was because they were idiots who put twenty-six freaking candles on the cake. The table threw up a cheer, and I blushed when my brother wrapped his arm around me and hugged me.

“I didn’t think you’d blow them out,” Holley admitted.

Saylor sat back with a grin and held out her hand.

“Do you two just make a living betting on crap I do or don’t do?” I questioned, watching as Kai got up to cut the cake.

“Pretty much,” Saylor answered.

Ivy shook her head, rubbing her hand on the top of her rounded bump. “They’ve got at least two hundred dollars on when I’ll go into labor and how much she’ll weigh.”

Now that I knew.

“Yeah,” Tori said, flicking her newly lightened brown hair over her shoulder. “But that’s a pool, so it doesn’t count. We’ve all got about twenty bucks or so in on it.”

My pregnant friend rolled her eyes so hard, the baby probably did it, too.

“Hey, why aren’t I in on this?” Josh, my brother’s best friend, leaned forward on the table and looked at Holley and Saylor. “You know you can’t run a betting pool without me.”

“You always win,” I pointed out. “So that’s exactly why you aren’t in on it.”

Everyone nodded.

“We’re sick of giving you our money,” Kai agreed, handing me the first slice of cake with a wink. The second went to Ivy.

Josh protested. “It’s not my fault I’m lucky. Come on, let me bet on it.”

“Absolutely not,” Holley said resolutely. “You can fuck off.”

I hid a laugh behind my hand. I also knew that they’d deliberately kept it secret from Josh because, somehow, someway, he would win.

We didn’t know how he did it. I’d long suspected he used a psychic, but that was probably the result of too many paranormal books as opposed to a genuine suggestion.

He really was just that lucky.

I ate my way through my chunk of cake as they continued bickering about Josh being able to join the betting pool or not. Since it was like five on one, I didn’t think he was going to win, but it was definitely interesting watching him fight tooth and nail for his right to be a part of the group.

“We’re going to go,” Ivy said, reaching over the table and squeezing my hand. “I’m getting tired.”

I got up when she did and hugged her, careful to go to the side to avoid her bump. “Thank you for coming to hang out.”

“Of course.” She hugged me back. “Text me and tell me if Josh ever gets to join.”

I laughed and returned Kai’s hug. “Straight away.”

“Bye.” Kai grinned and wrapped his arm around her, guiding her out of the bar.

I slipped back into my seat and looked at Josh. “They’re never going to let you join, so just quit it.”

“Thank you,” Holley said. “Has anyone messaged you yet?”

I wrinkled my nose up.

“Messaged where?” Colton asked. “You didn’t put yourself on Craigslist for your birthday, did you?”

I smacked his arm. “No. I joined three dating sites.”

He snorted his beer. “You’re kidding, right?”

Josh’s eyebrows shot up. “You joined dating sites? What are you going to do with those?”

I glared at them both. “Go on dates?”

“No,” my brother said. “You’re not.”

It was nice to know he had faith in me.

Saylor took my phone from me and opened the Stupid Cupid app. “Three messages. Impressive, since we didn’t actually get around to cleaning up your mess of a profile.”

I glared at her, too. “Obviously, it’s not that bad.”

“Meh.” She opened the messages and clicked on the first one. “Not bad. He’s twenty-seven, an engineer, and lives in Talbot Ridge. That’s, what? Twenty minutes away? Thirty in traffic?”

“There is no traffic near Talbot Ridge,” Tori said. “Nobody goes to Talbot Ridge.”