Page 13 of Baked

Libby giggled, whereas Rachel bit down on her lip in an attempt to hide her smile.

“Sorry.” Rachel felt the need to say. “He’s a little overprotective.”

“No shit.” Cat grinned. “I’m expecting him to show up here any second now and tell me off for not taste-testing your coffee before you had a sip. You know, to check for poison.”

Rachel was shaking her head now, losing the battle with that smile.

“So, how long have you and Hunter been ... you know ... a thing?” Libby’s elbows hit the metal table as she eagerly leaned forward, her wavy brown hair next to brush the polished steel.

Before she had a chance to answer, Cat slapped Libby’s arm. “Lib! We talked about this.”

“You did?” Why had they been talking about her?

Libby looked back at Cat, a silent question on her face. They were doing that thing where they talked with their eyes. The secret best friend language that Rachel hadn’t quite picked up yet.

Cat sighed, clearly defeated in the eye war, because seconds later, she announced, “We know you’re banging. You and Hunter. We’ve known for a while, butwewere gonna wait until you were ready to tell us, weren’t we, Lib?”

What?

“Uh, we’re not banging,” Rachel was quick to clarify. “Nothing like that is going on. I’m not sure why you’d even think that. Nothing is happening—or ever has. We’re just friends. Swear it.”

Who are you trying to convince?

She watched as Libby and Cat looked at each other and then back at her, skepticism clear on their faces.

“Honey,” Libby started, a gentle tone in her voice, “you guys can’t keep your eyes off each other whenever you’re in the same room.”

“Eye fucking,” Cat added.

“Yeah, anyway,” Libby resumed after shooting Cat a dirty look, “we’ve noticed. We’veallnoticed. I’m kinda surprised that neither one of you has made a move, to be honest.”

They’ve all noticed?

Since Libby got together with her fiancé, Zach, and Cody fell for Cat, her friendship circle had expanded. Which meant she was regularly in the company of Zach, Cody, Hunter, Luke and Benny as, apparently, they were a package deal.

“If you’re not together, then what the hell was going on at our house the other day?” Cat piped up again. “Hunter was one second away from going all Hulk and breaking my door down to get to you. And when he did get inside, he wouldn’t let me near you. He had to be the one holding you, looking after you. No one else. He even sat you on his lap. Oh, and I’m pretty sure I heard the wordhoneybuncome out of his mouth. What was that about?”

I wish I knew.

Cat was right to have questions though. When Rachel’s dad had shown up, Hunter had been the first person she’d called. In a panic. Rachel had then hightailed it over to Cat and Cody’s, seeing as Cody was a cop and she figured she should probably report the black eye her father gave her. She hadn’t expected Hunter to practically bang down Cat’s door to get to her. Or to be so possessive about looking after her. That being said, she still didn’t have any answers for her friend.

Thankfully, Rachel was saved by the waitress. Plates of food filled the table, but she only had eyes for the juicy burger placed down in front of her. Food would help make her brain work better.

“Rach?” Cat prompted, clearly not as distracted by the food.

Puffing out a breath, Rachel took one last loving look at her burger before meeting Cat’s blue-eyed gaze. “Look, the honeybun thing is new to me too. The truth is, we’ve hardly spoken to each other ... until now.”

“But you like each other?” Libby was the one who answered.

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” She sighed. “Do I think he’s attractive? Sure. I have eyes. But whether he likes me as more than a friend ... I’m honestly not sure. One minute I think he does, and then the next it’s like I just imagined the whole thing.”

“Oh, he likes you all right,” Cat replied. “We have eyes too. Plus, he’s named you. Next, he’s gonna claim you.”

“What?” Rachel felt her face scrunch up.

“It’s like a thing with these guys. Like some caveman shit. Cody started calling me kitten the moment we met.”

Libby’s hand raised. “Princess. Zach calls me princess.”