“There you have it,” Landon muttered. “Wyatt has spoken.”
Wyatt turned to his brother, some retort on his mouth. While they shot jabs at one another, Evelyn pointed toward Mateo’s bedroom. It was down the hallway and away from the kitchen.
“Mateo, go change while we finish making dinner,” his mom said when the conversation lolled a little.
“Yes, Ma.” Mateo mock saluted. I grinned, loving that his mom still bossed him around.
He came over to me and bent to whisper in my ear. “You’ll be okay on your own for a second?”
“I’ll be fine.” I wanted to have a moment to officially talk to his mom without him hovering nearby.
“I’ll only be a second.”
Mateo disappeared down the hall, and the kitchen fell into comfortable chaos while dinner was finished. Mila and Tasha helped set the table in the dining room, and Lydia andSteven went to sit by the kids. Wyatt and Landon hoisted chairs around to fit everyone.
The way they moved was practiced, like they did this many times. When Bryton came out of a room down an opposite hallway from the living room, he had three booster seats in his hands.Wait, Mateo keeps stuff here for the kids?Fuck me, he just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter.
For a second, I lingered near the counter, suddenly unsure of where to stand now that Mateo wasn’t beside me.
I spotted Evelyn at the stove, stirring something in a large pot. I stepped closer to the range.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
Evelyn glanced over her shoulder at me, her expression softening almost immediately, blue eyes similar to Mateo’s meeting mine. “You don’t have to do that, honey. You’re our guest.”
“I don’t mind.” I offered a polite smile. “My dad always said if you’re standing in someone's kitchen, you should at least pretend to be useful.”
A laugh slipped out of her, and she nudged a cutting board toward me. “Well, in that case, you can help me with the salad.”
I settled in next to her as she handed me a knife. Josie came up on my side, arms filled with lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. She sat them beside the cutting board just as a little voice yelled for her.
“I’ll be back.”
I waved her off. “I got this.”
Josie gave me a grateful look and went to see what the kids needed.
I worked on cutting the vegetables for the salad, all the while Evelyn put what looked like the makings of spaghetti in a pot.
“Thank you for letting me be here for dinner with you guys. I know it’s a bit last minute,” I said.
“It’s no problem at all. We’re more than happy to have you here. It’s not every day Mateo brings a girl home to meet us.”
I paused my cutting. “Oh?”
“There was one girl in university that he had over for dinner a few times, but you’re the first since he moved out here,” Evelyn explained. I itched to ask more about this other girl, wanting to learn who she was and if Mateo had been serious about her, but it felt weird asking his mom about his dating life.
“I hope no one is upset that I didn’t say anything at the game earlier,” I said instead.
“Oh, honey. I knew.”
“You did?”
Evelyn’s smile only widened. “Enough to know he really likes you.”
I blinked at her. “You got all of that from today?”
She chuckled softly, shaking her head as she reached for a dish towel.
