Rune looked over at her.
“You look sad,” she murmured. “Do you want to leave?”
“No. I was just thinking about my family and that I miss them,” he replied, keeping his voice low.
Her fingers tightened on his.
“I like being with your family,” he continued.
She smiled at him. “I’m glad because we spend a lot of time together.”
He squeezed her hand and released her fingers. “I’d better finish my plate because Sylvie is staring at the food left on it and I’m still hungry.”
She laughed. “You have to watch her. She’s the youngest, so she got away with stealing our food growing up. She has no compunction about taking it right off your plate, even though she’s old enough to know better now.”
“I can hear you,” Sylvie said, stopping her argument with Sirena long enough to shoot Astra a glare.
“And?”
“Do we need to have another sparring match after dinner?” Arvid asked, his voice booming.
“Not tonight,” Astra said, glaring back at her sister. “But Monday morning, at work…it’s on,” she told Sylvie.
“Bring it,” her younger sister said, lifting her chin in a gesture of challenge.
Astra lifted an eyebrow at her sister. “Monday morning.”
Sylvie looked like she wanted to continue arguing but she finally closed her mouth and turned back to Sirena.
“Does your family solve all your differences with violence?” Rune asked.
“Pretty much. Is that a problem?”
“Nope. Not at all,” he replied.
Astra laughed. “You’re a horrible liar,” she said.
“I’ll practice so it’s believable next time.”
They grinned at each other.
The rest of the meal was just as noisy, but Rune found himself sliding right into the rhythm of this family.
Especially when Hella brought out a homemade cheesecake. And she gave him the first and largest piece. Arvid complained and Sylvie tried to slide his plate away from him, but he smacked the back of her hand in a lightning quick move.
Sylvie jerked her hand back and scowled at him. She hadn’t even seen his hand coming for hers.
“I just wanted a little bite,” she said.
“She always says that,” Astra said. “Then, she eats it all.”
“My cheesecake,” he said.
“You sound like a caveman,” Sylvie shot back, sounding just like his brother did when they were kids, and he was pouting about something.
Rune cracked a smile. “Maybe I do, but it’s still mine.”
Sylvie rolled her eyes, but he could see the ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. It looked positively evil.
