“Well, you’ve been told.” Aiden laughs. “But I happen to agree with him. She seems like a nice girl. If you’re not serious, then back off. She doesn’t need any more shit in her life.”
“I am serious.” I jump up and fist my hands into my hair. “I’m so serious that I would go ring shopping right now if I thought she’d say yes.” I sit down again and wipe my hands over my face. “And yes, I am aware of how crazy that makes me sound. But I can’t help it. I’m fucking in love with her, guys. Tell me what to do.”
“In love? You just met her.” Somehow Johnny doesn’t look as incredulous as he sounds. “I’m not sure that’s even possible?”
“I didn’t just meet her. I’ve been in love with her all these years. I just never thought I’d get another chance. I didn’t think I’d ever see her again.”
I lean back in my chair with my hands over my face. I have a pit in my stomach that I don’t know how to ease. I’m scared Alex is just going to disappear again, and I want to make sure that doesn’t happen. Not sure how I can do that, though.
Chapter 38
Alex - First Family Dinner and Then…
“You’re working forConnor?” I think I’ve shocked Becca with the news. “We just moved you intohispool house?”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. That’s not even the craziest part. Apparently he’s been working out with Pops for like 18 years.” The studio is soundproofed, so I have Becca on speaker while I get some salad and bread ready to go with the dinner. I may be in crisis mode, but I still know how to feed people. “We’ve somehow never crossed paths in all this time. And how long have I lived with you in that apartment in the last 18 years? Probably has to be 12 of those years, at least.”
“This is amazing. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t even know. Did I tell you how he and Devon caught me taking pictures in the kitchen? I was getting a list ready to go to the store, and that’s when they came in. I’m lucky he didn’t call the cops on me, thinking I was a stalker. He joked about it, though, since I made such a huge deal out of it after the show last week.”
“No way! How surprised were you? That must’ve been insane. I have to be honest with you, I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this. You guys have been circling around each other for years then. Didn’t you say a former client recommended you for this job too? So that’s another connection between the two of you.”
She’s making me more nervous about this than I already am. There’s about half an hour left before we eat, and I’m still no closer to figuring this out. On a whim, I ask Becca to come to dinner.
“It’s lasagna,” I plead. “You love my lasagna, remember?”
“You want me to come eat with you and Connor? No thanks, I don’t feel like being a third wheel.”
“You won’t be a third wheel. The whole band is here, plus Devon. Please?”
“Ok, I’ll be there in about 20 minutes. I have to get ready.” She seems pretty eager for dinner now. I wonder what’s up with that? “See you soon,” she says before hanging up on me. That bitch didn’t even say bye.
I busy myself in the kitchen for a bit before realizing I should tell someone that I invited Becca. It is Connor’s house so even though my first instinct is to text Ryder (he is the one who said it would be ok to talk to her after all) I text him instead.
Me- I invited Becca to join us all for dinner. I hope that’s ok?
Connor- Of course. She’s always welcome to visit.
That’s a relief. If he says it’s ok, then we won’t need to worry about the background check. A few minutes later, the guys start coming back into the kitchen.
“Anything we can do to help?” Connor asks. “We’re not afraid to work for our dinner you know.”
If they’re all going to stand there and insist on helping, then I will put them to work.
“Alright.” I point to the salad that I’ve already made. “Bring that to the table, please. Someone else can set it. We’ll need the cheese out with the small grater, there’s a cheese board over there.” I point to the back counter.
The guys get right to it, not hesitating at all. If I ever find myself in charge of a kitchen again, I might just have to hire them on as my staff. If their whole famous rock band thing doesn’t work out, that is.
“Lasagna will be ready to eat in about 20 minutes now. Do we have enough chairs for everyone?” I eye the kitchen table, noticing there are only four spots.
“I’ve set us up in the dining room.” Devon points back towards the front of the house. “I sent Denise a message to tell her to join us too.”
Just then the doorbell rings, and Johnny jumps up to answer the door.
“That must be Becca,” Connor says. “Denise has a key and just walks in.”
While I wait for her to come back to the kitchen with Johnny, I take the lasagnas out of the oven and place them on the counter to rest. Throwing the bread into the oven to heat, I finish washing up the dishes I used when preparing dinner. I hate waiting until after to do all the cleaning. Though tonight I might get all these guys to help. They said they’d work for their supper after all, and I’m technically not working yet.
