‘When I told Jersey to embrace the suck earlier, I didn’t expect her to take it quite so literally,’ Sophie deadpanned, not bothering to keep her voice low.

Holly would’ve laughed, but she was far too irritated. Instead, she raised her voice and addressed the make-out queen. ‘Jersey, my stomach is currently gnawing on my spine I’m so hungry, so we’re heading to Saggio’s now. Are you coming with us or not?’

‘Hear, hear!’ Sophie clapped, her head bobbing vigorously as she leaped to her feet and headed toward the door.

Leigh Ann remained quiet as she watched the couple like she might a movie that wasn’t good enough to continue but not bad enough to turn off. Then she, too, uncurled her frame from the couch and followed Sophie.

As Holly had expected, Jersey’s arms dropped from around her boyfriend’s neck as she lowered herself from standing on her tippy toes, as was required by her petite five-foot-one-inch frame compared to his towering six-foot-three.

But when her friend tried to take a step back, Beau’s fingers gripped harder at her hips to hold her in place, his lips and tongue all over her face (God, how could she stand that?). Then, he opened his dark eyes, stared directly at Holly and licked his lips as if he’d just polished off a juicy steak.

It was akin to being injected with live insects, and Holly fought the urge to scratch at her arms. She glared back before turning away just in time to see Sophie’s eyes nearly roll to the back of her head.

Beau made a last grab at Jersey between her legs, winking at the others as he did, finally ending the semi-public display of affection. ‘Walk me out, baby. I still need to talk to you about something.’ In his typical caveman fashion, he dragged his girlfriend behind him to the door. He skewered Holly with his eyes when he passed her, clearly blaming her for prematurely ending his make-out session.

Good. Holly hoped he was pissed. The way he treated her friend like she was his property made him one of her least favorite people. She didn’t know what Jersey saw in him, but it wasn’t for her to decide who Sophie’s cousin dated. Not that she’d listen anyway. Jersey had never been great at taking advice, at least not since Holly had known her, when they’d become friends at the age of twelve.

Before the front door closed, Sophie said, ‘God, I hate him. Seriously. It’s like watching a tiger stalking its prey. Creepy AF, I’m telling you. Oh, and did I mention I hate him?’

‘You say that every time he’s around.’ Leigh Ann stared outside where Beau’s hands now roamed inside Jersey’s unbuttoned shirt as he ground his hips against her in a way that appeared painful.

‘I do,’ Sophie agreed. ‘And I mean it every time. He’s a pig. We all see it. Why can’t she?’

Leigh Ann shrugged. ‘Yeah, well, she did say bacon is one of her favorite things, right?’ Her head tilted to the side. ‘What are they doing now?’ Jersey’s palms were flat against Beau’s chest, and her head was averted.