Laird frowned at him. “Of course I would. I would wear them every day.”
Ben wrinkled his nose. “That would get kind of stiff and gross and stinky.”
“Only if I didn’t rinse them out.” Laird raised an eyebrow. “I can’t wash them in the washer. It will ruin them. See? I’m learning.”
“You are!” Devon set his knitting aside and rose, goingto the kitchen to pull out plates and flatware. “Looks like it’s time to eat, Raven.”
“Yum.” Raven got up too, coming to grab drinks for everyone.
“This is, like, domestic bliss,” Nick said. “Do you guys have another midwife floating around?”
“They do, but she’s not your type, bud,” Laird shot back.
“Oh. Damn.” Winking, Nick snapped his fingers in apparent dismay. “Well, this is fun, anyway. Thanks for letting me come over.”
“You’re always welcome.” Devon put out napkins and such, bustling around until Laird caught him by the waist and held him close. He kissed the back of Devon’s neck, and that made him shiver. It was so wonderfully odd to be part of a couple and hang out with friends.
“Thanks.” Nick winked at him, making his cheeks heat, but he patted Laird’s hands before they broke apart to sit down. They laughed and munched, and the chicken tasted perfect, like just what he wanted along with some coleslaw and potato salad.
No beans.
“Anyone want to play Skip-Bo?” Ben asked. If it was just the four of them, they would probably play Spades, but Nick was along, so…
“Or Five Crowns?” That was Laird. He loved Five Crowns.
“Let’s do that one,” Nick said. “I’ll take you all down.”
“Ha! Devon, get the book.”
Devon chuckled. “I’ll keep score, for sure.” Apparently it was a tradition in Laird’s family to keep a yearly book of everyone who won a game, and that was also where they kept score.
It was sort of dear actually.
Laird had brought him the book to keep on the table, and it was well decorated with a thousand little doodles of everything from dragons to flowers to monsters.
It was hilarious.
Obviously Laird spent a lot of time on this book, and on the cover it said, “Laird’s Scorebook,” and in silver writing, Laird had printed in very carefully, “and Devon”.
So damn sweet.
The only person who had more hash marks in the front cover than Laird and now him was Nick, who had obviously come over to play a lot of cards with Laird before he and Laird got together.
But Devon was overtaking Nick, and he had a feeling that he was going to overtake Laird sometime soon. He was actually really good at cards.
It was a weird skill and not something that he used in his daily life, but fun nonetheless. He found himself quite enjoying the whole winning part of this.
“Man, you’re as cutthroat as Granny is!” Raven tossed a piece of Chex Mix at him.
“So mean!” He ate the Chex piece though. Crunchy goodness.
“Yeah, that’s me—mean and evil.” Raven bumped shoulders with Ben. “Wow, it’s so nice to have an evening out without the babies and just to do normal guy things.”
“Yeah, I guess life does change a lot when you have a baby, huh?” Nick grinned and shook his head. “I think I’m a perpetual bachelor. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like to practice making babies, but?—”
Devon knew that was pure nonsense. Seriously. Nick was sweet and gentle. Once he got past the bluster, he’d make a great dad.
“Uh-huh, sure.” Laird clapped him on the back. “I have seen you with the babies when we have to be on the bus.”
