“Hey, hey, hey,” Kayden said brightly, bending down to wrap his arms around Moira’s shoulders and kiss her on the cheek, burrowing into her neck.
“Quit!” Moira said, but her laugh absolutely shattered any authority. “Sit down and behave.”
“Everyone’s always telling me to behave,” Kayden said with a wistful sigh, tapping the phone in Micah’s hand. “You could at least pretend to be happy to see me, kid.”
“I’m not a kid,” Micah grumbled, but he still looked up and eyed Kayden. “And it’s not my fault you’ve been gone for a week.”
“Six days, but who’s counting?” Kayden said, dropping into his seat. “So is GQ down there the one you told me about?”
“GQ?” I repeated, my face going blank as, to my horror, both Mason and Dom looked at me with a new, appraising gaze.
“Huh, I never realized,” Dom said, looking me up and down.
“Donotmake me remind you what I can do to you,” I warned.
“Ugh!” Milo cried out. “No, not this again! I don’t want to hear about Dom’s dick again!”
“Hear about his what now?” Matilda asked, her voice high and tinged with warning.
“Nothing,” Elijah piped up, and once again, Milo gave a cry assomethingstruck him somewhere out of sight and sent him tumbling out of his seat. “You know how Milo is, never able to control his imagination or his mouth.”
“And I thought you enjoyed his mouth,” Mason said, tilting his head.
“Mason, I may not be able to control your dirty jokes, but I will not deal with you making allusions to other people’s sex lives,” Matilda warned, pointing at him with her glass. “By the way, this latest drink is divine.”
“I’m so glad you like it.”
“That doesn’t change what I said.”
“I figured.”
“Mason,” Jace growled.
“I’m behaving,” Mason said and then froze. “Uh...good job, Milo.”
“What?” Milo asked, popping up, his hair in his eyes. “Oh.”
I followed their gaze to find Micah had put his phone down and was staring forward, horror on his face. Dom peered downat him and made a strangled noise before he started to get up. “Milo, you fucking idiot?—”
“It was an accident!” Milo protested, waving his hands. “Someone help me, Elijah!”
“I love you to the ends of the earth and back,” Elijah said with a wince as he reached for his glass. “But even I can’t save you from the consequences of your own bad choices.”
“Boys,” Marcus began, but I took hold of Dom’s wrist and pulled him into his seat.
“Bear in mind that this all started because I was the one playing with fire. If Milo is still the Milo I remember, we can’t expect him to think before he speaks any more than we can expect a cat not to meow,” I said with a snort.
“Mom?” Micah asked softly.
Moira picked her head up from where she had placed it in her hand. “Yes, sweetheart?”
“Can I sue Milo for emotional damages, or do I have to pay for the therapy myself in another ten years?”
“I’m afraid, for this one, you’ll have to eat the damages yourself.”
“I thought so. Mom?”
“Yes?”
