—I’m officially requesting your presence at home tonight. Seven o’clock. Come hungry.
He responded, smiling as he did.
—Does that mean you’re cooking?
—I don’t care who’s cooking, I’ll be there.
—Yes, Nico, I’m cooking. And thank you for being so amenable, Stone.
—When it comes to you, baby, I’m easy. What can I say?
—What are you making?
—Can’t you just be easy like Stone? Does it matter?
—Just promise not to burn the house down before we get there.
—I’ll do my best.
—If you smell smoke, remember my brother’s a firefighter.
—One more smart remark from either of you, and I’ll go to bed early, and you’ll both miss out.
Nico backspaced quickly, laughing. No way was he going to risk that happening.
Instead, he put his phone in the center console and turned on the truck. It would take him an hour in traffic to get back up north. It was only four, so he had plenty of time, but he had another stop to make before he headed home for the day.
Almost as soon as he put the truck in drive, his phone rang. He tapped the button on the steering wheel to take the call.
“Nico Daugherty,” he answered, keeping his eyes on the road.
“What are you doing?”
He grinned as his sister’s voice echoed through the truck’s speakers.
“Drivin’. What’re you doin’?”
“Sitting here with my feet up, enjoying a near-perfect day.”
“Onlynearperfect?” he teased. “Sounds to me like Adam’s fallin’ down on the job.”
“No. I don’t think he is.” She laughed. “Then again, his job’s easy. He’s only gotmeto take care of, and I’m easy to please.”
Nico snorted. “Since when?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Niyah blurted, her jovial tone disappearing.
He frowned. “Tell you what?”
“That you’re with StevieandStone.”
“Definewith,” he said, not sure how much she knew. He wouldn’t put it past his sister to ferret out the information by pretending she was in the know. She’d done it to him enough times over the years.
“Stevie’s sleepin’ in your bed every night.”
Well, apparently, she’d been talking to Stevie, which probably meant she knew more than he did. And that was saying something, considering he was the one they were talking about.
“She is,” he confirmed.
