“I’ve heard that about her,” Wendy said with a wink.
Then she turned, looked me dead in the eye and said, “Where’s your boyfriend?”
I choked on a sip of my beer. “What?”
She grinned. “I’ve heard all the rumors. The Matchmaking Mamas set you up with your adorable neighbor.”
“That’s not exactly what happened.”
“You’re dating the neighbor you hate?” Mom asked, sounding confused. “Is that why he made us that nice lasagna?”
“Wait, isn’t that neighbor aman?” Dad added. “Since when do you like men?”
All eyes swiveled to me.
“For fuck’s sake.” I flipped the burgers and pressed the cold beer bottle against my hot face. “I thought I was doing the grilling tonight.”
Wendy cringed. “Sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it?”
“This town, man. A guy can’t even figure out if he’s bi without everyone getting nosy about it.”
“Honey,” Mom said. “You know you can tell us anything. If you like this man…”
I bit my lip. “I do. I like him a lot.”
“Holy shit,” Neil said. “I knew it.”
Everyone glanced at him. I shook my head, but he sang like a canary. “A while back, Damon dragged us out to the pub on atrivia night.” He said it like it was some sort of sordidsecret. “Then he spent all night spying on Maverick while he was on a date with Percy.”
“The funeral director?” Dad said, nose wrinkled.
At least we were on the same page there.
Everyone looked at me again. I sighed. Apparently, there was no getting out of this. I checked the burgers. The juices were clear, and I wasn’t going to overcook the fuckers and prove Dad right.
I grabbed my spatula. “Get me another beer if you want to hear the whole story. Food’s done.”
Wendy ran in to fetch me a beer—something she’dneverdone before—and Mom set the patio table while I transferred the burgers to a plate. Dad stayed where he was, sipping his beer, looking more content than he had in ages. At least my spontaneous outing by my sister hadn’t dampened his mood.
We all got our burgers fixed up with toppings, and dished up sides of Mom’s potato salad, coleslaw, and baked beans.
“So?” Dad said. “Talk, son. It’ll be nice to talk about something other than my dang hip.”
I filled them in on how I’d signed up Maverick for matchmaking as a joke, but then he’d started going on dates and it really bugged me.
“You were jealous,” Mom said. “That’s just so cute.”
I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t—” I stopped. “Okay, I was jealous. But I thought I was just worried. These guys weren’t good enough for Maverick.”
“Aw,” Wendy said, patting her chest. “I knew it would happen someday.”
“What?”
“My little brother would grow up and actuallycareabout someone other than himself.”
I balled up my napkin and threw it at her head. Sheflicked a bean at me in retaliation. I spooned up some potato salad.
“Mom!” Wendy cried. “Don’t let him throw that.”
