Mia nodded and turned back to Noah. “He did.”
“Looking forward to it?” Noah asked. “I know he is.”
“I am. It’s nice to get out of the house and hang out with other people.”
Jackson frowned. “You hang out with me all the time.”
She blushed. “You know what I mean.”
“I don’t, actually.”
“Come on, man,” Noah said. “She’s talking about hanging out with someone new. It’s like when Jessa came to town. She was a shiny new toy.”
Jessa raised an eyebrow. “Excuse you.”
“Not a toy. Just a new person to hang out with. It was fun to finally be around someone new.” Noah put his hand on Jessa’s arm. “You know I love you, babe.”
“Jeff isn’t new to town,” Jackson needlessly pointed out. He knew what they meant, but he wanted to make it difficult… to force them to explain why she felt the need to go on this date.
All eyes swung to him, so he began scooping food into his mouth again.
God damn. Keep the jealousy at bay, Jackson.
“They mean he’s just someone new to hang out with. I feel like the older we get, the more appealing it is to settle down,” Noah said.
The other guys nodded in agreement.
“And you never know. Maybe your true love has been in this same town all along,” Jessa said.
Jackson’s stomach dropped. Her true love? Bullshit. Neither Jimmy nor Jeff could be Mia’s true love. She deserved far better than those guys. Yes, they were good guys, but they weren’t good enough for Mia. No one was good enough for his best friend.
Jackson glowered at his food. Normally, he enjoyed the family dinners since it was a good time for them to hang out as just family without discussing the business. But with Mia here and everyone discussing her dates, he wasnotenjoying himself.
“Where’s Jeff taking you on the date?” Miles asked.
Jackson just about sighed in annoyance, but then realized he wanted to know, too. Miles asked purely to know if the food options were good. Being a chef, he liked the discussion of food. Especially competition in the surrounding towns. But Jackson wanted to know so he could make sure Mia was okay. Sure, Jeff was a good guy, but one could never be too careful.
Yeah, he needed to know purely for her safety. And if he happened to step into that same restaurant at the same time purely out of coincidence, then so be it.
“Antonio’s, I think,” Mia said.
Miles nodded. “They have great pasta.”
“Don’t you worry about eating pasta on a date?” Jackson blurted.
All eyes swung to him again.
“No?” Mia said with uncertainty. “Why would I be?”
“Because it’s too hard not to slurp it and get sauce all over your face.”
She blinked at him. “Well, Iwasn’tworried.”
“Oh, shush, Jackson,” Karen said. “Honey, don’t worry about that. You’ll have fun.”
“Do you know what you’re going to wear yet?” Jessa asked.
“I’m not sure. Maybe one of my sundresses,” Mia said.
