So, This Is Love by Tracy Andreen

Author:Tracy Andreen [Andreen, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2022-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-One

Ayisha knew something. I saw it twinkling in her deep brown eyes the moment I spotted her seated at a corner table on the far side of Embers’s dining area. It intrigued me.

But not as much as the two people seated opposite her.

Petra and Gaines.

Unexpected.

My heart started its pitter-patter again. Though I wasn’t as anxious as I maybe would have been before my parents’ news. Residual happiness for them lingered and tamped down my natural instinct to panic.

Still. What were they doing here?

Ayisha read my wariness and her smile bloomed. “Oh. Just wait.”

Then both Petra and Gaines noticed my arrival. She was in dark denim again with a lavender sweater this time. Gaines wore baggy jeans and an oversized sage-green hoodie that probably cost as much the last five items of clothing I’d bought for myself combined.

I looked between them. “Is this like some sort of summit?” Pointing to Petra. “Where you’re representing the Bu family.” Pointing to Gaines. “And you’re here in Bronwyn’s interest?” A thought occurred. “Do I need a lawyer?!”

Yep. Still had the capacity for leaping to conclusions.

There was no evidence of any of them having eaten, so why else were they gathered here? Ayisha only had a cup of coffee, almost gone, and Petra had a white ceramic pot of tea beside her. Gaines casually rolled a bottle of Mountain Dew between the palms of his hands.

Petra raised a single dark red eyebrow. “I don’t represent the Bu family,” she said evenly. “My father is Percy Bergerac.”

Gaines gestured flippantly. “And I am on the Bron’s shit list. Cast to the side.”

“Because you defended me?” I asked as I sat on the wooden chair beside Ayisha’s.

He shrugged. “It’s not my first time residing there. We’ll see how long this one lasts.” That felt like bravado. He was more bothered than he wanted to admit.

Ayisha waved her hand at Petra and Gaines. “They’ve all known each other since elementary school.”

“ ‘They’ being . . . ?”

Petra clarified, “Gaines, Bronwyn, Josie, me, and Scotty.”

Ayisha explained, “They’re all from Edge Hill.”

I recognized the name. “That’s the town where La Belle’s is.”

“That’s right,” Ayisha said.

Gaines noted, “There’s more Edgies at Barrington.”

Petra frowned. “That’s not relevant to this discussion.”

He lolled his head to look at her in a way that spoke to their familiarity. “I was being thorough, Pets.” She glared at him and he rolled his eyes, amending, “Petra Louise Bergerac.”

That didn’t cease her glare. Was it an “I hate you, you’re an ass” glare or “How dare you speak to me like that, peasant” glare?

Hard to tell.

I interrupted their silent duel with a raised hand. “I’m guessing this meeting is about, you know . . .”

“The Shove.” Gaines grinned as he looked back at me.

“I didn’t shove her!” I protested. “Does she think that? Because I didn’t. I was trying to block her from going after Ayisha and may have inadvertently shoved. May.” I added a point by way of emphasis. “But I didn’t mean to do that, either! That has to count for something.

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