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“Yeah?”
“You can go ahead and bank on the fact that if I’m not with you, I’m missing you.”
“You’re a smooth talker, Grant Riggins.”
“No, I’m speaking from the heart.”
“I like your heart.”
“Yeah?”
She nods.
“Well, you’re in luck because I love yours.” I lean in for another kiss.
“Cut that shit out,” Marshall grumbles. “It’s time to eat.”
“You hungry?” I ask her as we turn to head toward the dining room.
“A little.”
“Babe, this is my family and me. You can be you. Tell me, are you hungry?” I stop walking until she answers me.
“Yes.” She nods. “I’m hungry.”
“Good. Mom cooks for an army. You know that. Come on.” With her hand held tight in mine, I lead her into the dining room. Everyone is already sitting at the table, with Aspen seated between Conrad and Marshall.
Conrad looks up and grins. “Remind me to tell you guys a story,” he says, looking at each of our brothers. “It’s a good one. I just sent you the link to the song,” he says, cracking himself up.
“Hey!” Aspen smacks his arms when her phone pings, and she opens her message. “That’s my material that you’re using.”
Conrad slides his arm over her shoulders, and together, they fall into a fit of laughter. “Epic, I’m telling you… it’s epic.”
“Do we even want to know?” Dad asks.
“No,” Aurora and I say at the same time.
“Trust me,” I tell my father. Aurora slinks into my side, and that’s when it hits me. She’s probably worried that I’m embarrassed, and I’m not. I just don’t want her to be. However, we don’t hold back in this family, and she needs to get used to that. She also needs to know that I’m not ashamed of her. “On second thought, it was pretty good,” I admit.
Aurora tilts her head back to look up at me.
“They know I love you,” I say, not bothering to soften my voice as I lower my head and kiss her.
“So, get this,” Conrad starts.
“Wait!” Aspen laughs. “Let me get the song ready.” She messes with her phone and then nods at Conrad.
He throws his arm back over Aspen’s shoulder and pulls her close. “So this one came and picked Rory up this morning from Grant’s place. I was there. We left the love birds to say goodbye and walked outside. Aspen got in her car, and we were chatting until those two”—he points across the table at where we are now sitting across from them—“decided to come up for air. Anyway, Aspen had a mischievous look in her eye, but I let it go. It was early as hell. However, when they”—he points to Aurora and me again—“walked out of the house, this is what she was blaring from her speakers.”
“Aspen,” Aurora warns.
“Sorry, Rory. This is just too good not to share.”
Royce, Marshall, and Owen are already laughing. Layla and Sawyer are trying like hell not to if the way they’re torturing their bottom lips, and the hand over their mouths is any indication.
“Hit it, maestro!” Conrad tells Aspen. Her thumb taps the screen of her phone, and the song, the same one as this morning, begins to play.
Dad cracks up, slapping his hand on the table, and Mom grins, rolling her eyes.
“Sleep with one eye open,” Aurora tells her sister.
“Come on, Aurora, you have to admit that it was excellent timing.”
“Here?” she says through gritted teeth.
“Babe, it’s fine. We’re both consenting adults.”
“All right, you’ve embarrassed the poor girl enough. Put that thing away and eat. I didn’t slave over this meal to have it go to waste,” Mom says.
Aspen is quick to turn off the music and slide her phone into her back pocket. She, Conrad, and Marshall whisper to themselves while my older two brothers, their wife, fiancée, and my parents all try to have a civilized conversation. As the conversation begins to flow, Aurora relaxes beside me.
“I’m sorry if you’re embarrassed, but I’m not. I don’t care who knows that we’re together or that I’m in love with you,” I whisper in her ear, kissing her temple.
“Your parents,” she whispers back. There is no heat in her voice.
“They love you almost as much as I do. We’ve done nothing wrong.”
“You’re not ashamed?”
“Never. Not with anything that involves you.”
Her eyes water with tears. My mom must see it too because she pulls her into a baking question, and just like that, all is forgotten. Aurora handled it well, and I’m sure with time she’s finally going to realize that I’m not him. I’m the man who loves her and will stop at nothing for her to see that.
Chapter 20
Aurora
“I like them all,” Layla says. She’s perched on the couch with a small plate of six different flavors of wedding cake resting on her belly.
“Thank you. You picked out a small three-tier cake. I can do a flavor for each layer, so you need to narrow down to at least three,” I tell her, laughing.
