Low blow, but at least he hadn’t evokedMom.
“Forgive me if I don’t like people breaking into my house,” Andrew said, which made him blush when he passed by the sofa, remembering Ford’s presence there as well. He’d Febrezed it multiple times since Christmas, but he still worriedhesmelled like Ford—like salt and sweat and sandalwood from his cologne.
Cautiously, Andrew moved into the dining room and sat down, praying Steven wouldn’t notice and thankful for the beer that he took a long pull from.
“You didn’t have to cook,” he said, grabbing the tongs for the noodles.
“Before you dish up half the pan without asking…” Steven looked at him accusingly.
“I just…” Andrew halted with the tongs about to release over his plate and promptly returned everything to the serving dish. Once again, he felt twelve years old in his brother’s presence just from a look and his tone. “I am a heathen with no manners, sorry.”
“They need to cool. Grab a meat bun,” Steven said, doing so himself and taking a swig from his own beer.
Andrew bit into a bao with relish. Store bought or not, it was still delicious. “Learn anything new on the Avalon case?”
“If I had, I’d tell you. I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“You’ll be the first to know,” Andrew mimicked his evasiveness.
They munched and drank and filled their plates with vegetables until Steven finally said, “The noodles should be fine now. Let’s dish up,” grabbing for the tongs first this time.
“You made too many,” Andrew said, eyeing the mound Steven added to his plate, and taking just as much himself, but there was still a ton left over.
“Mom’s recipe serves four. They don’t turn out right if I half it.” There was a flick of his eyes to the two empty chairs at Andrew’s table, and a quiet moment passed between them.
“Mom would say we could fix that if we each had a date,” Andrew said, and they shared a rare, commiserating chuckle.
Steven rarely dated, and he’d said good riddance when Andrew dumped Olivia. He was married to the force, whichMom had always given him a hard time for, since he was older and could have given her grandchildren by now.
Which weirdly made Andrew think of Dalton, and just…no.
“Must have been working hard on a Saturday to be out so late,” Steven said. “I was hoping we’d throw the hockey game on after dinner.”
“We can do that,” Andrew said. There were times when he and Steven could just be and not butt heads, and he tried to cherish those moments. “This job is a big one. Success and an endorsement from Avalon could really help make some headway for me.”
“That’s good. Really. I know I can be a dick sometimes,” he said earnestly, which made Andrew look at him in surprise, “but I just want what’s best for you.”
“You sound like Dad.” Andrew smirked at him.
“Now, who’s being a dick?”
They laughed again, but the mirth was interrupted by Andrew’s phone buzzing. He pulled it from his pocket to check the text, but all he saw was that it was from Dalton before Steven snatched it from his hand.
“Hey!”
“No cell phones at the dinner table. You know the rules.” He might not have meant to look at Andrew’s screen, but his eyes drifted there anyway, and he saw the name, pulling the phone closer rather than setting it aside. “You’re getting texts from Wellesley?”
“He’s my friend, remember?” Andrew tried to grab it back from him. “Don’t—”
“And what does he mean bythis?” He turned the phone toward Andrew, and he could finally see the message.
Thanks again for today and for being so cool about working with my dad.
“Who’s his dad?”
Andrew had no way around this but the truth, and he stared at his plate of noodles in longing as he let his hands drop back to his lap. “Isaac Ford.”
“What?”
