The Wrong Mr. Right (The Queen's Cove Series #2)(25)

“Yep. Does he come in a lot?” My dad didn’t like sweets, so this surprised me.

When she turned, her smile strained. “Sometimes.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Next time you should remind him that I like cupcakes and he should bring me some at the store.”

The warmth returned to her eyes. “I’ll do that.”

I left the bakery with the treats and walked over to Div’s apartment.

Max opened the door when I knocked, and I held out the bag. “Treats.”

His eye lit up. “We like you. You’re forever welcome on Bachelorette night.” He stepped back and gestured for me to come in.

“Is that Hannah?” Div called from the kitchen.

I slipped my shoes off and placed them in the closet. “Yes.”

“Does she want a glass of wine?”

“She does,” I replied, following Max into a pristinely clean kitchen.

Avery sat at the counter, pouring red wine into four glasses, while Div arranged gummy bears on a plate. He caught sight of the bakery bag and gave me a flat look.

“Veena’s?”

“Where else?”

He approached the bag like there was a wild animal inside, peeked in, before closing his eyes and inhaling. The moan he let out made all of us uncomfortable.

“Div, are you okay?” Avery asked, laughing.

Div frowned at the bag like he didn’t trust it. “Hannah, why are you tempting me like this? Do you hate me?”

My mouth fell open. “Of course I don’t hate you. Everyone should experience Veena’s cupcakes.” I nudged the bag closer to him. “Taste one.”

He patted his stomach. “I like having abs.”

“Oh my god.” Max shook his head. “No one needs to hear about your abs anymore. We get it.”

We collected plates, glasses, and the bag, and moved into the living room.

“Why don’t you start surfing?” I asked Div, placing my glass on a coaster on the coffee table. There wasn’t an object out of place in Div’s living room and I didn’t dare get rings on the table. “Wyatt eats whatever he wants and you could shred cheese on his abs.”

Avery clapped, delighted. “Well, since you brought it up—”

“You shouldn’t have brought it up,” Div sang.

Avery settled next to me on the floor, staring hard at me with a huge grin. “Hannah.”

I cut a glance between the three of them. “I feel like I’m being set up.”

Max put his hands up. “I’m just here to make fun of people on TV.”

Avery rested her chin on her palm, watching me with bright eyes. “What’s going on with you and Wyatt?”

I made a face. “Nothing.”

“You’re hanging out.” She narrowed her eyes. “A lot. He doesn’t really do that.”

“Hang out with people?”

She nodded. “He surfs. That’s it. Sometimes he goes for a drink with Emmett or Holden or Finn if he’s in town, or a friend, but mostly he just surfs.”

Max raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, and what was the deal with you asking people out while he supervised?”

“What???” Avery’s pitch was so high, it could have cracked the TV screen.

I did my best to skewer Max with my eyes. He fought a grin, staring at the TV. “I thought you were just here to watch TV.”

“I’m shutting up now.” He stuffed half a cupcake in his mouth.

Avery stuck her face very close to mine and I started laughing. Her eyes bored into mine. “Tell. Me. Everything.”

I shrugged and wiggled away from her. “It’s nothing. Wyatt’s teaching me to surf.”

Avery narrowed her eyes. “By making you ask guys out?”

My face was hot and I was blushing again.

Div cleared his throat. “There was a blog post.”

Avery and I whipped our heads at him in unison. “What?”

Div handed his phone to us. We read the title of the post on the Queen’s Cove Daily blog. My stomach dropped through the floor and Avery fell back onto the floor, laughing. I took the phone and read with an expression of total fucking mortification.

“Are millennials desperate?” I read. “Hannah Nielsen, of Pemberley Books, aggressively pursued all men in the closest vicinity on Thursday.”

Avery wiped tears from her eyes as her chest shook. Max covered his mouth with his hand, chest also shaking. Div winced.

“Don wrote about this on the blog? This is so embarrassing!”

“Hannah.” Avery stopped laughing so hard and sat up. “What were you doing?”

“Wyatt is teaching me how to be a hot girl.”

“What?” the three of them repeated it in unison, staring at me like I’d grown another head.

Div studied me. “I can see it.”

“Hot girl?” Avery reared back. “What?”

I sighed. “I’m turning thirty in one month and three weeks and I’m sick of being boring little Hannah who’s shy and scared of everything.” And I want to find true love, I didn’t say.

Avery blinked in surprise. “Hannah.” Her tone was soft.

“I didn’t say anything to you because I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to tell me to be myself or some crap like that.”