Free The Posse by Tawdra Kandle Page B

You felt nothing?”
    Jude bit her lip and glanced
up at him through her eyelashes. She shook her head.
    Cooper pressed his lips
together and nodded slowly. And then one side of his mouth quirked
up.
    “Daniel would die laughing
at us right now.” He chuckled, and Jude couldn’t help joining
him.
    Before long, they were both
crying with laughter, clutching their sides and leaning against the
walls.
    “I kissed you!
Because I thought Daniel would want me to! God, what the hell was I
thinking?” Cooper doubled over again.
    “Spark! No spark!” Jude
gasped, holding her middle.
    Finally, when the laughter
had subsided to wheezes, Jude patted Cooper’s shoulder.
    “I don’t know what’s got
into you guys. First Matt takes me to dinner, and unless I’m
imagining it, he almost put the moves on me. You here, tonight. And
Logan--” She stopped and looked down.
    “What about Logan?” Jude
heard the curiosity in his tone.
    She waved her hand. “Oh,
nothing. You know Logan, he’s just coming around a lot, keeping his
eye on me. And then the other night...” She bit her lip. The dance
and near-kiss was not something she was ready to share. For some
reason, it felt more sacred than what had just happened with
Cooper. She shook her head.
    “The other night?” Cooper
prompted.
    “I’m being silly. I was
going to say that if I didn’t know better, I’d expect Eric to come
by next, offer to bring me on as Janet’s sister-wife.” She winked
at Cooper. “That might not be a bad gig.”
    Cooper rolled his eyes, and
Jude laughed again.
    “Okay, I got to get home.”
She smiled up at him. “Thanks for this. I needed it.”
    Cooper lifted a hand. “I’m
glad I could help. Even if there’s no spark, at least I can provide
comic relief.”
    “Which is exactly what I
wanted tonight. I’ll talk to you next week, Cooper.” She turned,
but before she reached the door, she stopped and looked back him,
still standing by the unfinished table.
    “Cooper, that spark? Don’t
give up on it. Not yet. You’re going to find someone who can give
it to you.”
    ***
     

 
     

     
    Ever since high school graduation, the
posse had made sure to get together at least once a month. At first
it hadn’t been difficult; even when Daniel and Logan went away to
college, they were less than an hour away and regularly back in the
Cove. The girlfriends, and then the wives, were included in most of
their plans, but the ones who stuck, like Jude, Samantha and Janet,
were wise enough to give the boys their time alone, too.
    When Logan designed his
house, he had included a room that was especially for the posse.
From the solid oak bar in the corner, with its built-in coolers and
ice-maker, to the pool table and state-of-the-art sound system, it
was a man’s room. Over the years, he had added framed photos of the
group and other mementos. It was, he thought, their unofficial
clubhouse.
    He sat on his leather
barstool and watched as Matt chalked a cue. Eric and Cooper were
playing, too, but it was one of their more laid-back games. No high
stakes here tonight. It was a Friday night, and after a few beers,
they were all feeling pretty mellow.
    “So, Matt.” Mark tossed a
handful of nuts into his mouth and munched. “Remember when we
talked about you guys dating my sister? What happened? How did you
end up with her friend instead?”
    They all knew the answer,
but it was much more fun to rib Matt about it than to admit that.
He ignored Mark for a few minutes as he lined up his shot and
pocketed a few balls.
    He straightened before
leaning his cue against the table and picking up his beer. “I have
no freaking clue. All I can tell you is I took Jude out to dinner
one night. I didn’t put the moves to her, because...well, hell.
Because she’s Jude . I thought I’d lay the groundwork, you
know? Wine and dine her before I--”
    Mark yelled, clapping his
hands over his ears. “My sister! She’s my sister. Keep it PG-13,
please.” He