“Yes, thanks.”
I take a crab rangoon and one of the pancakes before passing the plates around the table.
“Oh my God. These are amazing.” Alice covers hermouth, chowing down on her crab rangoon. “This might be the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.”
I lean back in my chair and quirk a brow at her. “Is that so?”
She looks confused until it dawns on her. “Stop it.”
She swats at me, but I grab her palm and press a kiss to the center of her palm. “You make it too easy, Froggie.”
“I don’t know,” Mom says. “These green beans are delicious.”
I reach across the table and take a few to put on my plate, but can sense Alice’s emotions at my move.
I’ve always been touchy-feely with her. It’s second nature. I guess pretending to be in a real marriage to her is easier than I thought.
“Oh, you’re right. These are delicious,” Mom agrees. “Aiden, make sure you get a rangoon.”
“I have one,” he tells her, rather obviously.
I smile at the two of them going back and forth.
“Do you think we sound like that?” Alice asks, leaning close.
It’s hard to read her eyes in the low light of the restaurant. Every blink of her eyes, those lashes kiss the top of her cheeks.
Red wine stains her lips.
“I—”
“Of course you two sound like this. You love each other,” Mom interrupts.
“How can you hear us?” I whine, turning to face my mother.
“I have the hearing of a bat. Why do you think you could never sneak into the house?”
“Declan sneaking in? I can’t imagine him breaking any rules.” Alice laughs.
“Okay, we are not going to go down this road.” I try to wave over the waitress, but Alice slaps my hand down.
“Oh, I want to hear all about high school Declan from your parents.”
I groan, burying my face into my hands. Even after ordering our meals, my mom doesn’t stop with the stories, and even my dad gets in on the act.
If there is an embarrassing story to tell, they have it ready to go.
“You tried to dress up as the school mascot?” Alice giggles, taking one last sip of wine as I pay the check. “I can’t believe you never told me that.”
“It wasn’t my finest hour.”
“Well, Kathleen, you are going to have to come back when you can bring photo albums next, because I want all the old baby photos of this cutie.”
“And on that note, time to go,” I cut Alice off.
After even one glass of wine, she can lose her filter. From the look on her face, she’s not tipsy, but we don’t need to keep going down that road.
“Oh, this has been wonderful. You know, I’ve always secretly hoped you two would get married,” Mom tells us as we walk out.
