Page 52 of Almost Ours

Brooke chuckles, keeping her eyes on her boyfriend out the window. “Oh. They’re coming in the shop!”

I adjust the bunny ears on my head and glance toward the door as they enter.

“Hey,” Abi calls, waving hard. Almost to the level of aircraft marshal, her arms moving in tandem like some odd dance. She realises quickly how mental she looks and tones it down.

Josh looks freezing, shoulders slightly hunched inside his jacket, the skin across his nose and ears pink from being outside. His green eyes sweep the shop once until they land on us. He takes in our faces before he settles on me. And I swear his mouth turns up a tiny bit as our gazes collide.

Ewan heads straight to Brooke. “Hello. Saw you from outside so thought we’d come and say hi.”

Brooke steps forward, and everything about her seems to soften. “Hi.”

“Hi, Baby.” He presses a quick kiss to her lips. “What have you been up to?”

“We’ve been shopping.”

“I can see.” Ewan smiles down at her.

From Ewans side, Brooke peeks at Josh. “How was training?”

Josh gives her a small smile. “It was alright.”

“Josh took them all to the cleaners,” Ewan boasts like a proud dad. “He’s beasting the whole team, even Oscar is impressed with him.”

Josh looks down at the floor, uncomfortable with the attention. “I wasn’t that good.”

“AHEM.” Abi coughs, staring at him hard enough to make the poor bloke combust.

Josh looks at her; slightly taken aback by the manic energy she’s pushing out. “Hi, Abi.”

“Good thanks, you?” Abi screams, and Ewan turns his face away, shoulders shaking.

Josh’s face contorts in confusion. “What?”

Scrambling, Abi’s cheeks goes bright red. “I meant how are you?”

He looks at her like he thinks she’s insane. “Yeah, I’m okay. How are you?”

“I’m good.”

He glances at me and back to Abi. “Okay?”

Abi is nodding so hard I’m scared her head is going to fly off her neck and spin around the shop like one of those Beyblades we played with as kids.

Deciding to help her out, I move forward a bit, a weird nervous anticipation fluttering through me. “Was Oscar still being tyrannical today?”

Josh’s gaze meets mine, and his entire face lights up. “Nah. He was alright.” He lapses into silence for a moment, thinking. “Cam really is an insane fucker, though. He started off the session in a tutu pretending to be a ballerina.”

“Yeah.” I nod. I love Cam. There is no one more pure, more loyal, or better than he is. I would jump in front of a moving train to save his life. But he is the definition of insane.

“We’re all going for drinks,” Josh tells me. “Seems to be the thing after training.”

I’m totally captivated by his eyes. They’re green with flecks of orange and gold running through them. “You’re not going though?” I point to his dirty kit and then gesture to the shop.

“I am,” he nods, then shrugs. “I wanted to shower first.” He points at the bunny ears still on my head. “What are they for?”

“Blowjobs!” Abi half-screams, her face turning bright red.

Josh reels slightly. It takes a second for the words to register before a slow smirk spreads across his face and his eyes sweep the length of me. “Ruby Hollis.” A laugh catches on my name. “Do you need glow sticks to give blowjobs? Is that a requirement for you?”