“Oh, I can say no to you.” She rolls her eyes.
“We were just about to eat dinner,” Ariella interjects. “Kirby, you want to join us?”
I stare into her eyes. “Sure,” I reply, then turn to her. “Never a third without a second, I guess.”
“Who says I’m staying for dinner?” she retorts, and now I’m the one who looks like a deer in the headlights. “I could have a date.”
The minute she says those words, I feel my whole body turn almost to stone. “Do you?”
“Obviously”—she looks at Jagger—“I burn up the town.” She then turns to me and chuckles. “Especially when someone, who shall remain nameless”—she looks at Jagger—“keeps me up most of the night.”
I don’t ask her anything else because Ariella comes into the room and Jagger whines for her. She comes over and grabs Jagger from Lexi. “I’ll go and set the table,” Lexi says, walking away from me and up the steps toward the kitchen.
“What can I do to help?” I offer, following her into the kitchen.
“You can sit down.” She looks over her shoulder and I cock my hip against the island.
“It’s four plates, I can handle it.” She turns to reach for said plates and my eyes can’t help but roam down to her ass.
“I have no doubt you can handle anything.” I fold my arms over my chest. “Just trying to help.”
“You can help by taking your ugly face to the table,” Jaxon teases, “and leaving her alone.”
Lexi and I both let out a little laugh as I wait for her to turn around and then grab the plates in her hands. “You can get the cutlery while I do this.”
“Do not play tug-of-war with my plates,” Ariella warns, walking into the kitchen.
Lexi looks like she wants to murder me, but she lets go of the plates before turning and going to get the cutlery. I turn and head to the table that has four chairs on each side and one at each end. “Do you guys ever have ten people over for dinner?” I put one plate next to the other and then two more across from them.
“Yes,” Ariella confirms, “my family is huge. Well, our family is huge,” she says of Lexi, “and they are always dropping in.”
Jaxon comes to the table, putting down a platter of salmon and then placing the platter of veggies beside it. “This looks so good,” I say of the roasted veggies that are placed neatly next to each other. Red and yellow peppers, next to asparagus, and then Brussels sprouts at the end.
“It’s all Lexi,” Ariella praises and I look up at Lexi, who is placing the forks and knives by each place setting. “Another thing we are going to miss when she moves out.”
“You guys are more than welcome to come over to my house every single day.” She looks at Ariella, who is putting Jagger in his highchair.
“All of us?” my mouth says before I can take it back.
She looks up, biting her lower lip. “Most of you.” She puts her head to the side and we all laugh.
I sit down in the chair in front of Ariella and wait for Lexi to sit beside me, as Jaxon puts bottles of water on the table in the middle. He pulls out the chair next to Ariella, as Lexi pulls out the chair beside me. “Dig in,” Jaxon urges. Lexi grabs the platter of veggies, putting some on her plate before handing it to me.
“So where are you moving to?” I ask her and she shrugs.
“It’s still up for debate,” she says, grabbing the platter of salmon and taking a piece with two pieces of lemon on it, before handing it to me. “We went to see three houses.” I try not to fixate on the we. Who the fuck is we? “I liked the first one but it’s, again, over my budget.” She pours herself some water. “Like almost double.”
“Your parents want to help,” Ariella says. “Let them.”
“My mother is going to lowball an offer and see what they say,” she mentions and I look at Jaxon.
“Her mother is a real estate agent,” he fills me in and I just nod my head.
“It’s nice and the nicest, but is it worth the money?” She takes a bite of her salmon. “I had the big-ass house. I’m not sure I want that again.”
“You can have a big-ass house and make it comfy.” I take my own bite of my salmon and she just looks at me.
The rest of the night’s conversation is light as we discuss the upcoming away schedule. We leave tomorrow for three days and I’m already dreading it.
