Page 55 of Rise After Fall

“Or fun,” she quips, “don’t worry, I’ll keep it away from Scooter.”

I chuckle.

“Thanks.”

She runs off to help Zoey mix their girlie potion while I finish setting up.

“We were totally fangirling.”

Joanna is chatting with Ansley, who came to the party with Erin, who Zoey and Joanna invited when they ran into her at the liquor store.

“Zoey more so than me. I thought she was going to pass out.”

“Joanna,” Zoey cries.

“It’s okay. I don’t blame you. My man is hot,” Ansley says.

“It’s more the lyrics and his voice for me,” Zoey states.

“Yeah, right,” Erin teases.

“Okay, maybe my teenage self had posters of him all over my walls and wanted to have his babies, but it was a phase I grew out of,” Zoey says.

Ansley laughs. “That’s good, or you coming to the wedding might be awkward.”

“Who needs a punch refill?” Joanna asks as she stands.

“Half of me wants another cold beer,” Scooter says.

“What does the other half want?” I ask.

“Two cold beers.”

“A beer, got it. Anyone else while I’m up?” Joanna asks again.

“Not me. I’m going over to Leona’s with Taeli in the morning for a yoga class,” Ansley says.

“Yoga?” Zoey asks.

“Yeah, Leona has a studio in her home, and she teaches classes. We’ve been going for a couple of months now. I thought it’d be a good sport to try to help me tone up before the wedding. Garrett’s publicist promisedCountry Weeklythe exclusive, which means our photos are going to be splashed all over their magazine and the internet.”

“Sport?” Scooter chuckles.

“Don’t scoff at it. Yoga is amazing,” Ansley tells him.

“Fuck that. I’ll try it. Anything that makes me better or stronger, I’m all in,” I say.

Zoey’s eyes come to me.

“What?” I ask when I catch her expression.

“It’s just refreshing for a man to be so secure in his masculinity.”

“Baby, my masculinity is very secure,” I say.

She rolls her eyes.

“I’ll just have to live with my dad bod,” Scooter quips.