She glances up at me in surprise. “Really?”
“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it.” I smile.
She laughs at that. “I just don’t see many guys jumping in to do dishes. In fact, I was a little surprised to find your kitchen so clean.”
“I’m scared my mom will come in the house and lecture me if I leave dishes in the sink.”
She nods and steps back. “Well, thank you. It’s really nice. I was worried I would be late to work today. Still trying to get the hang of a new routine.”
“Don’t worry about me; I’m a fast dish washer. Besides, the biscuits were delicious. If you ever wanna cook and leave the dishes to me, it’s a deal.”
She bites her lip and looks up at me. “I’m assuming that’s contingent on sharing the biscuits, right?”
I wiggle my eyebrows. “What do you think?”
She throws back her head and laughs. “I’ll make you some of my homemade French bread one of these nights.”
“Let me know the time and place, because if it’s anything like those biscuits, I don’t wanna miss out on that.”
With one last bright smile, she walks out of the kitchen and disappears down the hall. Really, there aren’t that many dishes in the sink, just a few mixing bowls and some utensils.
I wash the dishes in less than five minutes. Apparently, mixing bowls take up a lot of sink space but don’t take long to clean. I’m shocked I even had enough kitchen tools for Lucy to make biscuits. My cooking skills consist of preheating the oven for a pizza.
When I finish, I head to my room to get ready for a day of work. My job at Kappa Holdings used to be rather hands-off. Kingston liked to do everything himself. But lately, he’s been a little busy with Willa—his girlfriend, who happens to be Lucy’s sister.
I think they might be officially dating now, though I’m not sure.
I hear the front door slam and a car start up. Lucy must be heading to work.
I grab a pair of jeans from my dresser and pull them on.
My phone chimes, and I glance down to see it’s a text from my sister.
Ainsley: Call me ASAP.
With Ainsley, this could mean anything from a delayed shipment for the store to someone dying.
Me: What happened?
I grab a button-up shirt and pull it on while I wait for her to text back.
Ainsley: Remember that crazy old bet that Grandma started?
Grandma has started quite a few bets. We often wonder if she actually has a problem and maybe we should intervene. But with Ainsley, there’s one bet in particular that Grandma threw out into the world. A marriage bet.
Me: Yes, I assumed she’d forgotten about it.
Ainsley: She didn’t. Instead, she brought it up at the last family dinner. And guess who was there!
Me: Oh no. He wasn’t???
She can only be talking about the worst person I know.
Ainsley: Oh, yes. Preston and his girlfriend were there, and you could practically see the dollar signs spinning in her eyes. Preston seemed to love the idea of you still being single. Grandma started talking about the bet and how no one has given her any hope of getting married and providing her with great-grandbabies.
Preston happens to be the most annoying cousin in the world and Ainsley’s archnemesis. Mine, too, for that matter. He did steal my ex-girlfriend, after all. That didn’t make family get-togethers awkward or anything.
Me: Doesn’t she realize that none of us are going to just get married for the sake of getting married?
