“Thank you. So what’s the update with Caleb and his redhead?” asks Tenley.
“Oh my god, Lex?” I ask Beth.
“Ohh, ladies.” Beth gasps, breathless with excitement. “I swear to you, my brother is in love. Otherwise, he’s in deep,deepinfatuation.”
“What!” Tenley’s mouth drops, while Beth just nods.
“Yep, we’re all noticing it. He’s distracted at family dinners, constantly texting on his phone, and every time it beeps, he does this little smile. Plus, he told us after the signing party that shewas the girl he met at The Wayside weeks ago. Not that I needed confirmation. I recognised her from when I saw them together there once.”
“This is so exciting.” I smile.
“She’s so pretty, too. Like, I know my brother’s good-looking, but Lex just has such a down-to-earth beauty. She’s not stuck up.”
“And she’s very close to her brother,” I add. It’s something I’ve picked up over the last few weeks whenever I speak to them while working on their distillery business. “They both have a lot of family pride. I think that’s important to Caleb.”
“Definitely. It’s a buy one, get seven more deal in our family.” Beth picks up a bread slice from the basket in the centre of the table and dips it into the sauce on her plate.
“Seven?” I ask.
“Three siblings, two parents, two grandparents.”
Speaking of her siblings, my phone buzzes on the table beside me, showing a preview of a text from Caleb.
OG:
Am I being replaced? Where was my brunch invite?
I laugh and show the message to Beth before replying.
ME:
Not replaced, just making room for more *laughing-emoji*I’ll make it up to you this week. Lunch at Chord and Coupe?
OG:
Fine. Maybe you’ll be a better influence on my sister than Mason. She spends far too much time with him.
ME:
I’ll do my best *salute-emoji*
“Has Caleb truly never dated before?” I ask, trying to lead into a way I can bring Gage up as well. His confession from theparty has turned over and over in my head. I’m unsettled, clawing for the answer to why he doesn’t do relationships. “He confided in me a little, but I’m struggling with the idea that he actually has no clue what he’s doing. The guy usually knows everything.”
“Yeah, none of my brothers date. Caleb always took a date to social events, but they were a single-user ride.” Tenley snorts from across the table as Beth continues. “Mason sleeps with any woman that looks in his direction, and Gage… I haven’t seen him pay anyone attention in, like, ten years.”
Oh, wow. So, I really have no chance then. That’s fantastic where my crush is concerned.
“Oh, I think he just does it discreetly,” Tenley says into her glass.
“What do you mean?” Beth asks.
Tenley rolls her lips together, fighting a smile. “I heard from Alistair once—uh, actually, maybe you don’t want to know this.”
“Bitch, don’t you start something you can’t finish.”
Tenley laughs. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She leans into the middle of the table, and Beth and I follow, bringing our heads in low. “Alistair saw him once at Nella Notte.”
“What’s Nella Notte?” I whisper.
