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“He’s adorable,” I quickly added. I was much more comfortable talking about cute dogs than fending off inuendo from Reed’s siblings.
“Right answer,” Paige said with a grin. “Reed ghosted a girl once because she didn’t like dogs.”
I spluttered out a nervous laugh and turned to Reed. “Seriously?”
“What?” he protested. “That was in middle school. And it’s a total red flag. I stand by the decision, and I’d do the same thing today.”
I was suddenly counting myself lucky I loved dogs. And wondering how many girls Reed had ghosted over the years.
Parker scoffed at Reed and flipped a hand through the air. “Your standards are too high.”
“Says the guy with no standards at all,” Cammie fired at him.
“I can’t help it,” Parker replied as he relaxed back into his chair. “I have a lot of love to give.”
Cammie groaned. “Mom, are you sure Parker wasn’t swapped in the hospital?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Amy replied though she didn’t look up from the novel she was reading. Apparently, she was listening after all. I couldn’t imagine talking this way around my own mom. Not in a million years. None of Reed’s siblings seemed the least bit bothered, and his mom didn’t seem to mind either.
“I think you might be wrong,” Cammie argued before turning to Parker again. “You’re such a pig. You know that, right?”
“Oink, oink.” Parker grinned.
Reed and I shared a look, and I struggled to withhold a laugh. I could tell we were both thinking about the first thing he’d heard me say. I guess I hadn’t been totally off base when I’d called hockey players pigs. I’d just directed the comment at the wrong Darling brother.
Cammie rolled her eyes. “I should be grateful Reed’s all shacked up now. That’s one less brother my friends will be throwing themselves at. It’s so embarrassing.”
“Your friends don’t throw themselves at me,” Reed said.
“Uh, they do. It’s just like Grayson was saying the other day, you’re too caught up with hockey to notice. I guess you have been since?—”
Grayson reached past Paige and lightly thwacked Cammie across the back of the head. Cammie scowled in his direction, but Grayson was already leaning back on the couch, his focus returned to the game on the TV. I wasn’t sure what had just happened, but it felt like Grayson was concerned about what Cammie was going to say. Either that or he just thought she was talking too much.
Before I could find out, Danny’s voice echoed from somewhere deeper in the house. “Food’s here!”
The Darling kids all jumped from their seats, jostling with each other as they raced toward his voice. The chaos of this family was something else; it was a stark contrast to the quiet, lazy evenings I spent with Luke and Mia. My nights at home with Mom didn’t even slightly compare. Mostly because I was lucky if I even saw her. She was always either at an event, working late, or busy in her office.
Reed and I were the last ones to reach the dining room, and I took a seat between him and his dad.
“It’s great to see you again, Violet,” Danny said. “How’s the car getting on?”
“The car’s much better.” I smiled. “Thank you so much for fixing her. It really was too generous.”
A slight frown crossed Danny’s brow, and he glanced at Reed before he quickly smothered the expression. “Uh, no problem,” he replied. “I’m happy I could help.”
I glanced at Reed, wondering why his dad seemed slightly unsure, but he nodded at the pizza boxes on the table. “Better dig in, or there’ll be none left. It’s every man for himself at mealtimes around here.”
I laughed but took his advice and grabbed a few slices. Reed wasn’t joking. He and his brothers had their plates piled high in seconds. I had no idea how they could eat so much.
“So, Violet,” Amy said. “Tell us about the first time you and Reed met.”
“Oh yeah, tell us,” Paige added, clapping her hands together.
She was sitting across the table from me next to Grayson, who leaned back in his seat with his arm draped across the back of Paige’s chair. Even though Paige had said they were best friends, they could easily be mistaken for a couple.
“Uh…we met when my car broke down.” I decided that was a much safer place to start than when I spotted Reed flirting with a bunch of girls and called him a pig. We hadn’t officially met then anyway.
“I came to her rescue,” Reed said with a proud smile.
