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“No?” I ask. “Because it sure feels like your goal is to make me cry half the time.”
Nolan looks down, eyebrows crinkling together. “If I’m an ass to you, try not to take it personal. I push the good people away.”
I tilt my head. “What?”
He shakes his head suddenly. “It’s nothing. I just mean I’m not trying to be a dick.”
“Oh, okay. So it comes naturally to you. I see.”
He smiles, and I smile back a little, biting my lip.
I go back to the pan, checking on the chicken. “Well,” I say. “It’s done.”
“Hey, Mia?” He says, stopping me as I’m plating the chicken. He touches my arm. “I really am sorry about your parents. I mean it. If you ever want to… talk about it more, I’m here.”
I feel a sudden swell of appreciation and emotion at that. “Thanks,” I say, picking up the plates and taking them to the table with a very confused bundle of feelings in my chest.
“So,” Carter says around a mouthful of chicken thigh with my signature Greek sauce. “Babies, huh?”
Andi raises an eyebrow. “Babies, yes. That strange thing women sometimes pop out of their vaginas when you aren’t just sleeping around for a good time.”
Carter’s eyes bulge as Jesse, Jake, and Liam all choke back laughter.
“Sorry,” Maddox looks up from his phone, eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t paying attention, but I just heard Andi talking about vaginas. What did I miss?”
I’m smiling when my gaze slides to Nolan, who is looking at me. We both immediately stare back at our plates.
“Carter is just trying to make conversation,” Jesse says. “It’s hard for him. Especially when it comes to things he doesn’t understand… like childbirth. Or women. Or common decency and table manners.”
“Hey, now.” Carter points his fork at Jesse. “I got a perfect grade in anatomy class back in high school.”
“Wasn’t that the teacher who was always texting you dirty pictures of herself?” Maddox asks.
Carter rolls his lips in thought. “Actually, yes. It was, but if you ask me, getting dirty pictures of your anatomy teacher is like extra credit. I should have been applauded for being so studious.”
Caroline shakes her head. “This food is really good, guys. At least it was until Carter started talking and ruined my appetite.”
“If your appetite is ruined,” Carter says, “Can I finish your plate?” He tiptoes his fingers across the table to her plate and tries to grab a piece of chicken. She whacks him with the back of her fork, glaring.
Jake watches the exchange, eyes twinkling with amusement. “Keep your nasty hands off her plate, man. We all know where those have been.”
Carter tries to reach behind Caroline to rub his hand on Jake’s arm. The two guys wrestle a little as Caroline ducks and protects her plate.
The rest of dinner goes with the same constant level of good-natured banter, camaraderie, and general happy celebration for Jesse and Andi. I even forget to worry about what Nolan is thinking for close to an hour as I drink in the atmosphere and enjoy feeling like part of the big, somewhat dysfunctional family of teammates, sisters, and me, the third wheel. But they don’t make me feel like the odd woman out.
The sky darkens as another snow storm rolls through the mountains outside and Andi gets up to light candles. At least, Andi tries to get up to light candles before Jesse and the guys interrogate her to figure out why she’s trying to get on her feet and demand to do what she was trying to do.
She sits down, resting her hands on her slightly protruding belly and eyes me. “A little overkill, don’t you think?”
I laugh. Carter leans in beside me with a crumpled napkin draped over his forearm like some kind of fancy server. He sets a candle beside me, flicks a lighter a dozen times without any luck, then swears. “Fuck. Your candle wishes to remain quite unlit, ma’am. Apologies from the staff.”
“Here,” Nolan says, snatching the lighter from Carter. He gives it a few hard taps on the palm of his hand then lights it on the first try, igniting my candle.
“M’asshole,” Carter says, bowing profusely in Nolan’s direction and doing some fancy circular gesture with his hands. He drops the napkin in the act and doesn’t bother picking it up.
“The service here sucks,” Caroline jokes.
“Terrible,” I agree.
