Eli looks between us, unconvinced. “You all think I’m an idiot?”
Jake lifts a placating hand. “No one said that. Welovehow observant you are.”
“Yeah,” Chase adds. “Really sharp, big-picture guy.”
Eli points his finger between me and Logan. “You better not be lying.”
I grin, resting my chin on my hand. “Absolutely not. If Logan was making me com—giving mefireworks, I’d definitely tell you all about it.”
“LU-LU!”
My hands fly up in surrender as I laugh. “Okay, okay—but you hear howinsaneyou sound, right? Sit down and have a mimosa before you burst a blood vessel.”
“Anyway,” Meadow chirps, completely derailing the standoff. “Then there’skiss love. That’s my favorite one!”
Charlie places her palms flat on the table. “Meadow Grace, maybe that’s enough—”
“But that’s the love we want Uncle Hutchy to find because you said he needs it!”
Reid looks up from his coffee, unimpressed. “Appreciate the concern, kid. I’ll add it to my to-do list.”
Settling down at the table, Chase grins. “Maybe you just haven’t kissed enough frogs yet, Hutchy.”
“Frogs are just wet turtles, Walton. Pass.”
Jake snorts coffee out his nose and Zoe wheezes. Charlie has her face in her hands, half-laughing, half-dying.
“I am begging the universe to swallow me whole.”
Tamara clears her throat, placing a giant bowl onto the table before sitting down. “Who wants fruit salad?”
Jake waves a hand. “None for me, thanks. I’m full from secondhand embarrassment.”
Chase slides a platter toward me. “Here, have somelove pancakes, Lu—”
“Those aren’t gluten-free,” Logan cuts in smoothly, swapping them for the smaller stack.
Eli’s head whips toward him again. “How the hell do you know that?”
Logan hesitates. “She… told me once?”
“Once?” Eli repeats, incredulous. “And youremembered?”
Zoe sighs dramatically. “Because he’s a decent human, Eli! Besides, we all know Lulu is gluten free!”
Reid nods. “Not a crime to possess basic observation skills.”
Logan shrugs, avoiding eye contact, tone too casual as he cuts into his own stack. “And she’ll get sick otherwise.”
It’s a small sentence, but the silence that follows could split granite.
Under the table, I slowly reach across to find his hand. He doesn’t look at me, just threads his fingers through mine, palmwarm against my own. We share one quick squeeze, a silentI’ve got you,before we both let go again.
Eli glares at all of us, then finally exhales, stabbing at his own pancake stack. Across the room, Miso gnaws viciously on her headless Logan toy as if she’s foreshadowing his demise before our very eyes.
It’s Noah who finally breaks the tension. “Can I please have more syrup?”
Charlie passes it to him. “Drown us in it, buddy.”
