She clasped a dramatic hand over her heart just as Dave strolled into the kitchen.
“Everybody’s asleep. If we can keep the ruckus down tonight, they all might stay that way.”
Ana greeted her man with a kiss and a bottle of beer. “You need to have a talk with Aiden. He’s not exhibiting the on-the-job loyalty to the Brick that one might hope.”
Dave took a long pull of his beer, then leaned across the counter until his face was even with Aiden’s. “Get out of my house, asshole.”
“Language!” Ana thwapped Dave on the butt with a kitchen towel.
“Hey, the kids are in bed! Let me work blue tonight.”
Ana’s stern expression dissolved as she leaned in for another kiss that left Mabel a wee bit jealous of their easy affection.
As soon as Dave’s lips left hers, Ana warned Aiden, “You’re still not off the hook.”
“It’ll be all Brick all next week, I swear,” he said. “Although it’s not the same with this one gone.” He inclined his chin in Mabel’s direction.
Look at that. She could bounce from envy to misery in a few short seconds.
“Don’t remind me,” Dave said glumly. “The Brick Babe auditions are tomorrow, and then I’m gonna be stuck with a rotating cast of bimbos.”
She’d just have to joke her way out of her dark mood. “Hmm. Kind of like Aiden’s dating history,” she mused, enjoying the return of his flushed cheeks. You’d think he’d be un-embarrassable about his sex life, but apparently not.
“Anyway,” Aiden said loudly, “Ana would you tell us more about the grown-up world of social workers so the rest of us heathens can understand what it’s like to work a respectable job with respectable people?”
They all settled at the dining room table as the lasagna baked. While Ana described a coworker’s trip to the ER after getting beaned in the head with a softball during a home visit, Mabel studied Aiden. Pretty face, lean build, workman’s muscles, rumple-me hair. And not a single bit of it attracted her in the least. What was wrong with her?
She sighed heavily into her wineglass, and Ana glanced over.
“Still upset over Jake?” she murmured.
Mabel slouched forward and spoke quietly, hoping Dave and Aiden were fully immersed in their own conversation. “No. Kind of. A little. But that’s okay. I’m okay,” Mabel said, doing her best to convince herself along with Ana. “I haven’t seen him since he told me he didn’t want to seeme. It’s fine. It’s easier for both of us.”
It wasn’t though. It was dreadful,and she missed him. But maybe if she spun the same story over and over, she’d start to believe it. “Anyway, he’ll be back up in Chicago before I know it. I mean, where were we headed, realistically?”
Ana raised her brows. “I saw the way he looked at you when you were onstage during the last Moo Daddies show. You were headed to the nearest horizontal surface that night, for sure.”
“Up against a wall actually,” she muttered, then laughed when Ana slapped her a high five.
“But you forget that I also talked to him that night. He likes you, Mae.”
Mabel shifted in her seat and swirled the last of the wine in her glass, then jerked her head toward the kitchen. Ana followed her. Once they were safely out of earshot of the men, she picked up her last thought.
“I liked him too. But at this point, it’s best if we don’t have anything to do with each other.”
“Is that what you really want though? I thought—”
“Please don’t make this harder,” Mabel begged. “Long story short: I let myself forget that relationships are a bad idea for me, and it bit me in the ass. Now I just need to get over him.”
Ana tapped her chin thoughtfully, then looked pointedly at the dining room. “Hmmm. If only you could find adifferentguy who thinks you’re hot.”
Mabel whipped her head toward the dining room, then back to Ana.“Dave thinks I’m hot?”
“Ha.” Ana lowered her voice and leaned in. “Aiden and I have had conversations. He’s made allusions.”
Mabel glanced into the dining room and ran her eyes over him again as he laughed at whatever Dave was saying. “Unfortunately, we’ve always just been pals. No chemistry there at all.” She poured herself more wine and automatically reached for Ana’s to refill too. But Ana slapped her palm over the top of her glass.
“No more?” Mabel asked, waving the half-full bottle at her. “Really?”
