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It was the usual crowd. Elijah was doing something with olive oil and seasoned salt at the counter. Olivia and Cole were arguing about some horror movie they watched and whoreallyknocked the popcorn over when the killer clown appeared. Since Leander was off trying to find a vase, that left Jake. Sulky, sour-puss Jake, who was playing with Annabel on the servant stairs.
I stared at Gavin, glancing between the two a couple times to make sure I was seeing what he was seeing. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. Him?!”
“Who is he?”
“That’sJake. A royal pain in my ass, although your gay-dar is on point. He’s so closeted it’s not even funny.”
“Oh, I can help with that.” Gavin beamed up at me, shimmying his shoulders.
“I don’t think he would know what to do if you stripped naked and handed him a fucking manual.” It was true. Although I still wanted to punch him in the face every time he opened his mouth, I had to admit Jake could get as much ass as he wanted if he lost the giant chip on his shoulder. He had that good-ol’ boy masculinity that made him appear straight, which meant he was man-meat for most of the gay population.
“A fuckingmanual, or afuckingmanual?” Gavin smacked my chest, biting his lower lip suggestively.
Shaking my head, I held up a hand and waved him off in disgust. “I cannot even deal with you right now.” And he had the nerve to callmea slut.
Leander saved me by reappearing with the flowers, artfully arranged in a crystal vase. “Help me pick a spot?” He tossed his head down the hallway, which meant it wasn’t a request at all.
“Behave.” I pointed at Gavin before following Leander to the parlor.
Leander set the vase down on an accent table and took my hands in his, kissing the knuckles on each. “Are you nervous?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that? I mean... other than Olivia, no one really knows about us.”
He winced. “Jake knows.”
“He what?!” If it was anyone other than Leander, I wouldn’t think they were serious. But since he was serious about everything, I knew it was the truth. “Since when?”
“Remember that loud crash... you know...thatnight?”
“Uh-huh...” How could I forget? It nearly ruined everything. I mean, it did prompt us to go upstairs, sothatpart was a bonus…
“That was him. He saw us.”
“Oh. Well, shit. That explains a lot.” I replayed every interaction I’d had with the lad since that night. It all made so much sense now.
“Are we going to eat anytime tonight?” Cole shouted from the kitchen. “I’m starving!”
“You’re always starving,” Olivia snipped.
“Blow me.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Hell yeah!”
Elijah was the one to break up the bickering. “Alright children, go sit down.”
I pressed a quick kiss to Leander’s lips and waggled my brows at him. “Let’s go.”
Lacing my fingers through his, I led the way into the dining room. When we rounded the corner, Leander tried to tug away, but I held on, shooting him a look over my shoulder. He squeezed my hand, a silent apology. Old habits and all that.
Everyone was already seated, more or less paired off and chatting animatedly. Except for Gavin, who was too busy giving Jake googly eyes while he sipped his spritzer. I couldn’t help but notice he somehow managed to snag the seat directly next to the farm boy, despite my warning.
We took our chairs, Leander at the head of the table and me at his left side. Etiquette said I should have been at the other end, but fuck that. I wanted to be within arm’s reach of my husband whenever possible.
“About time,” Cole said, rubbing his washboard abs as if he was seconds from withering away. “Can we eat now?”
Elijah rolled his eyes and Olivia elbowed him before looking at the two of us expectantly. “How was Puerto Rico?”
