Dante narrows his eyes in warning. “No, Reid. I’m twenty-two.”
“But your birthday doesn’t actually exist,” Reid argues, voice tinged with glee.
“Reid.”
“Oh my god, were you on the news? Sometimes those cute little leap day babies are on the news because they’resospecial.”
“I was not on the news as a newborn,” Dante deadpans.
Just as Reid clearly is about to press further and ask another question, Dante covers Reid’s mouth with his large palm. Reid’s nose wrinkles and his eyebrows furrow, but he goes still when Dante whispers something in his ear. A moment later, Dante removes his hand, and Reid clears his throat.
“I hope everyone brought presents,” Reid says softly.
I grimace and look toward Jacob, who only rolls his eyes and nods toward the table by the front door. Oh, thank god. The doorbell rings, which has all of us craning our heads to look toward the door in fear.
“Oh, calm down, it’s just pizza delivery.” Reid waves his hands in frustration while passing by us all to head inside. He stops by the sliding door to cast a look back at Mason. “Help me, please.”
Mason sends me an unsure smile but dutifully follows his little brother inside. I watch him go, because it’s an amazing view, then turn back to the guys to take a sip of my beer. The beer is cool and crisp, and I almost spit it out when Hayden fixes me with a stern look and asks, “Are you fucking him?”
“No,” I reply firmly.
Hayden has the gall to look disbelieving. “Hmm.”
“And if I was, would it matter?”
“No, but it might cause you to make bad decisions,” Hayden finally says.
“I disagree. I think what I feel for Mason will force me to make better decisions.”
Hayden tilts his head at me like an eagle watching prey. “How so?”
I lift my gaze to Jacob and see understanding there as his gaze flits over to Hayden. Oh. That’s when it all clicks. How could I not see it all this time? Jacob’s gaze goes distant as he tears his eyes away from Hayden to look inside over my shoulder.
“When you care about someone besides yourself, put their safety above your own, the decisions you make are foreveryoneinstead of just yourself.”
Hayden snorts in disbelief. “Whatever. None of you would die for me out there, of that I’m sure.”
“I would,” I say loudly, pulling his attention back to me. “I’d die for you, boss.”
“Me too,” Dante chimes in.
Hayden rolls his eyes. “Sure.”
“Hayden,” Jacob says gruffly, but Hayden just ignores him. I watch as Hayden crosses his arms over his broad chest and tosses himself back in the chair as if attempting to make himself invisible.
Reid breaks the spell by sauntering in with plates full of pizza. He and Mason take turns handing them out before Mason sits back down on the edge of my chair. I set the half-empty beer bottle on the other side of the chair and grab my pizza. We all chat quietly as we eat, most of us teasing or roasting one another, notably Dante, which he takes good-naturedly because that’s the kind of guy he is.
I sneak glances at Mason every time he laughs atsomething stupid one of us says. He eats half of a slice of pizza before placing the plate on the ground and carefully wiping his fingers on a napkin. When he catches me staring, he thinks it’s out of want of a napkin, so he hands me one, and I take it to avoid letting my eyes tell him the truth of my stare.
“Presents!” Reid announces, excitedly slapping his hands together.
I say a silent prayer that Jacob got Dante something good as Reid hands over gift bags and a single box. Hayden still looks sulky, but he perks up a little when Dante decides to open the glittery purple bag first. Must be from him.
Dante’s eyes go misty when he opens the bag, then he looks at Hayden with unrestrained joy. “Really?”
Hayden waves Dante’s emotional question away. “It’s just one time.”
“What is it?” I ask because I’m nosy.
