“So, the rumorsaretrue?”
Hannah and I pull apart to find Tommy and Penny standing on the other side of our table, holding their own lunches as they stand there watching us, a smirk on Tom’s face and a huge grin on Penny’s.Laughing, I wave at hand at them to sit down, as I say, “Yeah, they’re true.Where do you guys stand in the pool on us then?”
Tom grins at me as he sits down.“What makes you think we were in on this?You know they had a pool going on us too.”
I hit him with a look that says that’s exactly what I think.“Yeah, we know.Just like we know you were in on this one,” I add.
Penny giggles, nudging Tom as she says, “We took a week either side of Lauren’s baby shower.Are we close?”
Beside me, Hannah laughs, her hand resting on my thigh as she says, “Not even.”
Grinning, I press another kiss to her neck, loving that this whole thing with us as a couple is now finally out in the open.It feels so fucking good to be able to sit with her like this, to hang out with our friends and not hide the fact that we are together.I don’t even give a shit about the bet they had going on us, especially as it’s obvious neither me nor Han are going to reveal the truth.
“Really?”Penny asks, sounding genuinely disappointed.
Laughing, I reply, “Really.But hey, do you know what a bae is?”
“A what?”Tom asks, sounding confused.
I glance at Hannah who just shrugs as if to say she has no clue either.When we turn to Penny though, she rolls her eyes.“Oh my god you guys, a bae is like your significant other.Did someone call you that?That’s so cute!”
Tommy, Hannah and I all look at her, still confused, still not getting it.
“So what, it’s short for babe or something?”Tommy asks.“I mean, why not just say babe?”
Pen giggles, resting her head on Tom’s shoulder.“I don’t know, it’s just something millennials use.”
“You’ve never used it,” Tom teases, throwing an arm around Penny as he presses a kiss to the top of her head.“And technically, aren’t you a millennial?”
“Yes, but I’m also an old soul,” she deadpans.“And I don’t use it, because it’s fucking stupid,” she adds, making us all laugh.
“Hey, what’s so funny?”Dylan asks as he and Tessa now walk up and join us.I feel Hannah stiffen against me, but I don’t move, my arm still wrapped around her waist as she sits between my legs in a way that clearly screamswe are together.I mean it doesn’t get more obvious than this and even though I haven’t had a chance to talk to Dylan yet, I’m assuming he still knows.I mean he was in the pool on us, so he has to.
Not that I’m worried he’s going to be against us being a couple.I mean to be fair, we’re both adults so he can’t stop us.But I guess he might be annoyed that we hid from him.
“Someone called these two bae,” Penny says, waving a hand at us.
Dylan looks at us, a confused expression on his face.“Why?”
“Because they are bae,” Penny continues.“Only they aren’t hiding it anymore.”
Tessa smiles, clapping her hands together before she sits down, her hands moving to rest on her ever-expanding stomach.“Oh, thank god,” she exhales.“That was seriously starting to get exhausting trying to keep quiet about it all.”
Dylan is still standing by the table, that same confused look on his face as he turns to Tessa.“Wait, you knew about this?”
She rolls her eyes, turning to look up at him as she pats the seat beside her.“Um yeah, and so did you, remember?We had a pool going, I had some intel?”
“Ugh, I knew you told him,” Hannah mutters, rolling her eyes as she glances up at her brother.“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Dylan shakes his head, that same confused expression still on his face as he finally sits down, glancing over at us before turning back to his fiancée.“I thought the pool was on when Lauren would have the babies?”
Tessa and Penny both laugh.“How the hell would I have intel on that?”Tessa asks.
Dylan slides a hand onto Tessa’s stomach.“Um, because you’re having a baby,” he states, making her laugh even harder.
“Oh my god, Dylan,” Hannah now says.“How are you this clueless?”
“What?”he asks, turning to his sister.“I mean just because I don’t go sticking my nose in everyone’s business like everyone else around here?”
