Perry and Raina are bickering by the counter where they've set up their contribution: three flavors of ice cream and a jar of hot fudge that Perry is currently arranging with the intensity of a man defusing a bomb. Raina watches him with fond exasperation, then deliberately moves the hot fudge to the opposite side of the counter.
Perry's eye twitches.
Raina grins and smoothes everything over with a kiss that Perry sinks into.
God, I love these people.
"All right, everyone!" Aiden calls out. "Pot roast is ready. Grab a seat."
We gather around the big table in the common area. It’s crowded, chairs squeezed in tight, but no one seems to mind. Ike told me how much their station dinners have grown in the past year. When Aiden and Perry were single, it was just the crew. Then Beth and Raina came alone, and now me.
Dishes crisscross the table in every direction—Aiden's delectable pot roast with carrots and potatoes, Beth's fresh salad, my rolls, and Lance's chips and dip. Beers are cracked open, plates are piled high, and the conversation flows as easily as the drinks.
"So get this," Jasper says through a mouthful of potatoes. "You know that fender bender we responded to last Tuesday? The one on Bur Oak Bend?"
"The one where the lady backed into the mailbox?" Lance asks.
"That's the one. I'm helping her fill out the incident report, right? And she asks for my number."
"While her car is still smoking?" Beth looks skeptical.
"The car wasn't smoking. It was a minor collision. Anyway, we went to dinner on Friday."
This earns snorts from multiple directions.
“What?” Jasper leans back, looking enormously pleased with himself. "It wentverywell, if you know what I mean."
"What a gentleman,'" Chevy says.
Jasper rolls his eyes. "Look who’s talking. You went out with?—”
"Hey!” Ike cuts in. “Guys, please."
I glance at Ike, who's shaking his head at the exchange with a faint smirk. He catches me looking and raises an eyebrow, and I know we're thinking the same thing.
"One day," Ike adds, his voice cutting through the chatter, "you're going to meet a woman who wants absolutely nothing to do with you, Jasper. And it's going to devastate you."
Jasper scoffs. “Not even.”
"Famous last words," Raina mutters, and Perry nods in agreement.
"Raina, how’s the motorcycle build coming?" Chevy asks, suspiciously changing the subject.
Raina's big smile says it all—it always takes over her face when she talks about engines and metal and speed. "Remi and Kyle over at McCafferty Customs are helping me out. It's a custom build, basically from the ground up. We're talking a modified frame, upgraded suspension, and this gorgeous midnight blue paint job that Kyle's been experimenting with?—"
She's off, eyes wide as she describes the technical details. Across the table, Perry watches her with that helpless, adoring look he gets whenever Raina talks about something she loves. I'm pretty sure he's memorized every specification she's mentioned, probably has charts tracking the project's progress.
That's love…caring about what someone else cares about, even if it's not your thing.
I feel Ike's hand settle on my knee under the table, as if he can read my thoughts, and I lean into him instinctively.
After dinner, the great dish debate begins—Jasper trying to escape cleanup duty, Lance volunteering because he's too sweet for his own good, Aiden insisting the cook doesn't clean, and Perry pulling up some article about equitable distribution of household labor on his tablet.
In the commotion, Ike leans close to my ear. "Come outside with me for a minute?"
I nod, and he takes my hand, leading me through the apparatus bay and out into the cool evening air.
The sun is setting, turning the multi-colored sky and majestic mountains into something out of a painting. Ike pulls me against the brick wall of the station, as I stand between his legs.
