“Doesn’t Sean have a contract with the Arsenal? Augusta is lovely. And closer to Atlanta.”
“My contract is still up in the air,” I say. “But I’ll go anywhere Kayla wants.”
I mean it more than I expected, and Kayla seems to sense that. Her smile is soft and pretty, but her eyes twinkle. “I think we’ll wait a year before making any more life-changing decisions.”
“A year?” Wes asks. “That feels arbitrary. You getting a tax break, or something?”
I snort without thinking. Kayla just rolls her eyes, and when we make eye contact, we share a smile.
“This is fun,” Hunter says. “Watching my sister undress her husband with her eyes is top of the ‘Things I Never Wanted In My Life’ list.”
“Dude,” Wes says, punching Hunter’s arm.
“Son,” Lawson says, shaking his head. “Remember how some thoughts are just for you and it’s okay to keep them in your head instead of putting them in other people’s heads?”
Hunter looks at his dad blankly. “No.”
Jolene breathes a laugh. “Boys, while Sean finishes dinner, why don’t you see if you can throw a foam football in the recycling bin from the upstairs window without breaking your necks?”
All three brothers’ eyes light up, and in a flash, they’ve all rushed to the window on the other side of the small family room.
Lawson smiles. “There. Now the grown ups can talk.”
I chuckle. “Mind helping me with the meat?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
I don’t need help with the meat. I’m a thirty-three year old man who’s lived on his own for years and who thought he was marrying into an insta-family. I’ve worked at my family’s pub for years. I’m a great cook.
Inviting Lawson to help with something is my way of hoping I can impress him.
And man, do I want to impress him.
“Mmm. Smells good, son,” he says, clapping my back.
Lawson and I are the same height. I’m a fair amount broader than he is, but I suspect that’s due to age. Something tells me Lawson in his prime was a beast.
Wes and Hunter are built like him. Gray is leaner and the shortest of the three boys. He and Kayla were both adopted at birth, but it’s remarkable how similar his coloring is to his brothers’ and dad’s. They’re all tan with dark blond or light brown hair and various shades of blue eyes.
Lawson takes a knife and cuts himself off a piece of meat. The crust cracks with a faint crunch, juices seeping out like the thing’s bleeding flavor. He puts the slice in his mouth.
“Mmm. When Kayla told me you were a good cook, I thought she was just doing that thing all newlyweds do.”
“What’s that?”
“Lionizing them.”
“Mind clarifying?” I ask while I start slicing. “I don’t know the term.”
Lawson gives me a look that almost makes me feel dumb for not knowing the word. He must think I’m such a backwards rube. His office is probably bigger than my entire apartment. Kayla’s told me how relieved her family was that she didn’t marry Aldridge. But that doesn’t mean they’re happy she’s with me.
“You know, I think maybe Kayla’s right about you,” Lawson says with a nod, appraising me.
I pause, holding the carving knife and fork in my hands and look at him. “I’m afraid I still don’t know what you’re talking about, sir.”
“My daughter thinks the sun rises and sets on you. Every week, she gushes about how she’s never felt so seen, so safe. She’s never laughed so hard with anyone. She raves about your cooking and your kindness. She can’t get over how handy and capable you are. Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I’d think she was trying a little too hard to convince us how great you are. She was always doing that with Aldridge.”
I swallow hard. “You said ‘if I didn’t know better.’ How do you know she’s not blowing smoke?”
