When he nodded and I found a box that would work as a table for the time being, I started us back toward my house. “Have you had breakfast?”
His guilty side-glance answered that question.
“Here’s a question that you can answer without lying. How many people are coming over?” He perked up, obviously glad about not having to answer the breakfast question.
“Ten.” Then he frowned. “Unless my oldest brother and his family come? Then fifteen. Unless he brings his stepkids? Then I don’t know.”
How many interesting branches did his family tree have?
“We can work with that, and if you have too many leftovers, we’ll look up YouTube videos to get ideas about what to do with them.” Someone who was way too cheerful and had entirely too much time on their hands had to have made a video with suggestions. “Most meat freezes well anyway.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.” His anxiety eased down another notch, making me wonder if it was the talking or the moving that was making him less panicked. “I don’t mind leftovers or making food. I can cook. Mostly.”
We’d figure out what that meant later.
“Let’s go through the gate and around back. Then we’ll come back and see what I’ve got.” It seemed like the easiest way even if it would take several trips. “Don’t you have a patio? Right? I think I remember you mentioning it at some point.”
There’d been a slightly convoluted story involved somehow, but I couldn’t remember it at the moment.
“Yes.” My now bouncy neighbor nodded excitedly. “And I have a patio set and everyone else knows to bring chairs. I’ve said that at least ten times and even put it in the family group chat.”
People were morons but he didn’t seem to know that.
“We’re going to pull out some blankets for people to sit on just in case. Like a picnic. Do you have any that would work?” It wasn’t a stupid question but his expression said he thought otherwise.
“I like blankets.” His tone made me think that should’ve been obvious. “That’s a good idea.”
I was just full of them and it seemed like I had the go-ahead to be a bossy pain in the ass too. So as we headed through the side gate, I started my mental list.
Feed Bouncy.
Figure out Bouncy’s real name.
Figure out if he actually had side dishes.
Figure out if he had plates for everyone.
Figure out if he could set meat on fire without setting everything else on fire.
Figure out if Bouncy was single or not.
Yep, it was going to be a long and chaotic day.
Chapter Two
Rhodes
My knight in shining armor was going to drive me insane.
“I know I’m not supposed to touch it but I have to touch it.” Why couldn’t I poke the meat? “It’ll be fine.”
“Touch that meat and there will be consequences.”
Did he understand how that sounded?
“Don’t touch your own meat either.” Okay, Knightly had to know how that one sounded. “We’re pretending to be family-ready…judgmental dickhead family-ready.”
Ignoring the mumbled dickhead comment was second nature because even they didn’t like each other.
