“A lot of them,” Linc mutters. People aren’t really his thing.
She smiles, shaking her head. “Come on, you loner. Let’s go get you a beer.” She grabs his hand, dragging him behind her into the kitchen.
He might be resisting, but I know him better than that. He’s soaking up every second of having her hands on him. Heaven knows I’d be doing the same.
I feel bad for only bringing a single pumpkin pie. I know we were a last-minute addition to the guest list, but everyone else’s contributions were far superior.
That was one of the best meals I have probably ever eaten, and that’s saying something because my surrogate mom is a fantastic cook. I have eaten many nearly perfect meals in my life, most of them made from her hands.
My ass is parked back on the sectional, trying to digest the meal. I should probably go for a walk or something, but I’m kind of in a food coma. The hustle and bustle going on around me is plenty to keep me entertained.
Some people are watching a football game here in the living room. Some are in the kitchen, gathered around the island, drinking their beverages of choice.
Avery and Hadley are sitting on the floor while a couple of the little girls braid their hair. The bigger kids disappeared upstairs a while ago, Oliver included.
The thing that has me smirking to myself, though, is the way Abby convinced my very grumpy brother to play a board game. He kind of looks like he wants to find a bathtub to stick a running hair dryer into.
But his whole face softens when he turns to look at Abby, who is enthusiastically playing the game at his side.
There are only a few people on this planet who could get Linc to do what he’s doing right now, and apparently, Abby has been added to this list.
Leah plops down beside me on the sectional. My smile is instant. “Hey, you.”
“Hey, yourself,” she says, bumping her shoulder against mine.
Seeing her smiling and happy is everything. She looked like she was moving through the motions without really living when we were watching over her.
I know she can’t possibly be over all of it, but the lightness to her soul looks good on her.
“Did you get kicked out of the kitchen?” I ask. Some of the ladies are in there making whipped cream to go with the desserts everyone brought.
She rolls her eyes. “There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen, and I’m not exactly a professional chef. So…”
“Now, you get to sit and relax while they do the hard work,” I say, clinking my beer bottle against her wine glass.
“There’s worse places I could be,” she says with a shrug.
“A room filled with angry bees, a pond with hungry sharks, a forest with a thousand mountain lions.”
She throws her head back against the couch cushion, laughing loudly. “First of all, why are all these scenarios about animals that want a bite out of me? And second, why the sharks in a pond?”
I roll my eyes this time. “I don’t fucking know. Maybe the sharks in my mind can survive in regular old water that isn’t full of salt.”
“You’re so weird,” she laughs.
“You don’t know the half of it. But I think you’re just as weird… like, in a good way.” I tack on the last bit so she knows it isn’t a dig.
We settle into a comfortable silence, both of us sipping on our drinks. In the short time I’ve known her, Leah has become like a younger sister to me. I want the best for her, and I would go toe-to-toe with anyone who dared to hurt her.
My head swivels to the left when Abby wanders into the kitchen. She opens the fridge and groans.
“There are more hard seltzers in the garage,” Sienna yells at her without even turning around.
Abby disappears down the hallway and into the garage. My body makes the decision to follow her before my mind can even contemplate what’s going on.
I can hear Leah chuckling quietly behind me, but I don’t think anyone else is paying attention. I make a half-assed attempt to look like I’m heading to the bathroom, then sneak out into the garage.
I could tell myself I’m doing this to be a gentleman. I’m here to carry the box of drinks for her, but that would be a lie. I’ll absolutely carry whatever she needs me to, but that isn’t why I’m here.
