This time, Liv didn’t try to suppress her smile. “Guilty as charged.”
Theo returned his pool cue to the rack. Rather than sit, he walked toward the bar. “I won’t have time tomorrow, but I want a rematch before I leave.”
“Tell me when, and I’ll be here.”
She hadn’t said as much, but he’d known Liv had been anxious about meeting Theo and Brianna, although he didn’t understand why. It was only his brother. But it sounded like whatever anxiety she had was long gone.
“Can you grab me one too?” Matt asked before Theo closed the refrigerator. “What time is the wedding tomorrow?” If his brother had shared the information, he didn’t remember.
Shrugging, Theo handed him a beer. “Sometime in the afternoon. I don’t remember the exact time.”
“We’re serving dinner at five.”
“What are we having? Anything good?” Theo asked.
Before she could sit in the chair she’d vacated earlier, Matt grabbed her hand and tugged her onto his lap. “Everything Ocean View makes is delicious.”
“Gina has us serving four different dishes. She wanted the guests to have options,” Liv explained.
“That’s the first I’m hearing about it. Brianna better not have requested a vegetarian meal for me.”
His brother’s tone told him more than his words did.
“We are serving a vegetarian meal, but I don’t remember how many.”
“Any chance you can prepare an extra nonvegetarian meal just in case? I don’t care what it is as long as I don’t have to eat a tofu chicken breast or a soybean filet.”
Matt didn’t know if soybean filet existed, and he had no desire to find out.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t starve.”
“I owe you one. Brianna’s been trying to get me to become a vegetarian for weeks. She even tried to convince Dad.”
“And how did that go?” Matt asked. Their father liked nothing more than a rare filet paired with his favorite merlot.
“Let’s just say Dad told her in the most polite way possible what Brianna could do with her opinion of his diet when she refused to let the matter go.”
Matt could easily picture the scene. His father was an expert at telling someone where they could stick their opinions without the other person realizing it. And if Brianna did something similar to him during her stay, he’d be following his father’s lead.
“This doesn’t leave the room, but I got the impression Mom and Dad didn’t care for Brianna.”
Matt wasn’t surprised by Theo’s comment, especially if she’d acted the same way as she had today with them.
Although their parents had never technically disapproved of the women Matt and his brothers dated, they’d clearly liked some more than others. And a good indication of their feelings was how often they invited the two of you over or inquired about the person when they called.
“What about Aiden?”
Unlike their parents, Aiden would share his thoughts about the women they dated with either of them.
“He’s not a fan.” Theo raised his beer toward his mouth. “But he hasn’t spent much time with her.”
Matt hadn’t expected Brianna and Theo’s relationship to last, but if Aiden didn’t like her either, it definitely wouldn’t.
On his lap, Liv went rigid. Clearly, something they’d said bothered her. While he wanted to ask her what it was, it seemed like a better conversation to have when they were alone.
“Aiden’s been traveling a lot for work, and our schedules haven’t aligned well. I’ve only seen him two or three times in the past two months.”
While Matt might go months without seeing his brothers, the same wasn’t true about Theo and Aiden. Of course, it was much easier for them to hang out with each other since they only lived about twenty minutes apart.
