Total pages in book: 191
Estimated words: 182070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
“Yup,” my cousin replied, still smiling wide.
Zac slid out of the booth like freaking water and bent at the hips before suddenly swooping down and hugging Boogie, who moved to the side after a split second and hugged him right back.
They were so cute, it killed me.
All hugging and loving and making these happy guy noises as they gave each other affection.
The waitress arrived just as Zac slid back into the booth, giving me another big, beaming smile that I returned for about a second before looking back at my cousin instead.
“Would you like to start with an appetizer? Or do you know what you want?”
I rattled off my order, and so did the other two as she set our drinks down, all the while sneaking glances at Zac literally every other second. I had to give her props though. She hadn’t told any of her coworkers, even though she knew damn well who he was. So they wouldn’t stiff her out of serving him? So she could be the only one to get a picture? Maybe just to be nice and give him his privacy?
I nudged my cousin as the waitress said something to Zac. “Psst.”
He glanced at me.
“I’m just throwing this out there, but Connie said doing Kegels before giving birth was the best thing she could’ve done, so maybe that’s something Lauren should look into,” I whispered.
Boogie frowned. “Do what?”
“Kegels,” I repeated. How the hell did he not know what Kegel exercises were?
“What’s that?”
I blinked at him.
“Am I supposed to know what that is?”
I nodded.
Boogie turned to his best friend just as he put his glass of water to his lips. The waitress had walked away. “Do you know what that is?”
“What is?” Zac asked before taking a sip.
“Bianca said Lauren should start doing Kegels—”
Water sloshed over the rim of the glass a split second before a big laugh shot out of Zac and made its way through the tiny dining area.
I smiled a little; then I smiled even more at Boogie’s confused face.
But Zac’s eyes were on me as he asked, “You said that to him?”
I nodded, feeling my smile drop a little. I hadn’t meant for Zac to hear, but….
“Should I do a search to figure out what that is?”
Zac and I both said, “Yes,” at the same time, and we smiled at each other right before I looked away again.
* * *
We spent the rest of dinner talking about Boogie’s wedding and his baby.
After he’d moaned and groaned following his search to find out what “Kegels” were—pelvic-floor exercises. Even me explaining quietly that men did them too didn’t make him groan any less. It probably didn’t help either that Zac cracked up the whole time Boogie and I bickered over it. “Everyone should do them” wasn’t legit enough for him.
Anyway.
If I thought I was surprised about the baby and the wedding, Zac seemed to be even more surprised over it. His smile never faltered, I noticed, even when I cut my own smiles short when they met his.
Thankfully, it wasn’t until we were back in my cousin’s car that the conversation moved to something other than a baby and a wedding. What never got brought up, I’d realize hours later, was what was going on with Zac and his career.
“B, have you thought up anymore recipes?” Boogie asked randomly, about three seconds after we all buckled in.
“Yeah, a couple,” I told him vaguely, staring at the back of Zac’s head. He’d been looking at me a lot while we’d been eating—these long peruses of my face—and a couple times, I let myself wonder what he thought. Then I tried to be an adult and reminded myself that it didn’t matter. “Did I tell you that Connie’s driving down next month, and she’s bringing Guillermo with her?”
Guillermo was my favorite nephew—my only one—and one of my viewers’ favorite guests. They were visiting so he could film a couple videos for my channel with me. More than a couple if we could fit it in, but I wasn’t holding my breath. Things always went wrong when they came over. It was part of his appeal, besides being adorable and great.
“They’re coming down for the weekend?”
“Yup.”
“I haven’t seen him in forever. Tell me when, and I’ll see if I can make it work with Lauren.”
It took a lot of effort not to sneer at her name. But I was going to try my best. Because: Baby Boogie. I wondered what he or she was going to look and act like. I hoped they liked me.
“Are you a chef or something, Peewee?” Zac asked, turning slightly in his seat so he could kind of see me behind him.
“No, I’m not,” I answered him before glancing out the window. I wasn’t sure how much he knew but was pretty certain he didn’t know anything about my life. And to an extent, I’d rather keep it that way. It wasn’t like we had time, anyway, to go into what I’d done with my life in the five minutes we had to get to my apartment. So I changed the subject. “Hey, Boog, are you going to Lola’s quince?”