She kissed him, sliding her hands up his chest to lock behind his neck.
“Later,” she said against his mouth. “We should go be social.”
“Or we could stay here.”
She pulled back with an expression that said,really?
“Fine. I’ll be social. But I’m claiming you after dinner.”
“Claiming me.”
“Poor word choice. Enthusiastically requesting your company.”
“Better.”
They went downstairs.
They had wine on the back porch while the sun dropped toward the water. Ronan grilled steaks that smelled incredible. Devney asked Tessa about her business with the intensity of someone taking mental notes for a documentary. Gabriel sat back and watched.
His chest felt too full. He’d forgotten what this felt like.
Ronan and Knox knew the person he’d been in college, young and hungry and still figuring out who he wanted to be. The professional world knew the polished mask. Tessa was seeing the man who laughed too loud at Ronan’s terrible jokes, whostole olives from the appetizer tray when Devney wasn’t looking, who only came out around people he trusted.
“You’re looking at me again.”
“Guilty.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Only around you.”
Knox arrived at seven, pulling into the driveway in his usual black sedan, his expression suggesting he’d rather be anywhere else.
“Devney made me come,” he announced by way of greeting. “Something about fresh air and human connection.”
“You need both,” Devney called from the porch.
“I need neither.”
“You need to stop being dramatic.” Gabriel handed him a beer. “How was the drive?”
“Long. Boring. I listened to two podcasts about market trends.”
“Fun weekend ahead.”
“Hilarious.” Knox took the beer and surveyed the porch. His gaze landed on Tessa. “You survived the early days. Impressive.”
“Thank you?”
“Gabriel scared off his last girlfriend in four days. Something about excessive texting.”
“I don’t excessively text.”
“You sent her a spreadsheet.”
“It was a schedule. For optimal date planning.”
“It had color-coded categories.”
