I know he doesn’t owe me anything, and certainly not his heart or his thoughts, but fuck.
“Theo and Hunter should be here soon,” Luca says, placing a bowl filled with chips in the center of the table.
Austin walks in behind him with two bowls of salsa. “Okay. Luca made one, and I made the other. You have to blind taste test and see which one you like more.”
“You made them?” I ask, looking between the two bowls—one blue and one yellow.
Austin scoffs. “Why is that so surprising?”
“It’s not surprising that Luca did.” I glance up at Austin, smirking. “It’s surprising thatyoudid.”
He rolls his eyes. “Jackass.”
“Thank you,” Luca says, sounding pleased with himself.
Arlo grabs a chip, then dips it into the blue bowl. His jaw works as he chews, and he tilts his head back and forth after he’s swallowed. “Okay. Good. Nice heat. Good level of chunk.” Picking up a second chip, he scoops up some salsa from the yellow bowl.
We all watch as he chews, his face giving nothing away.
“The second one.” He points to the yellow bowl.
I try to study Austin and Luca to see if either of them gives away whose salsa it was, but both of them keep their faces impassive.
“Alright, let me see.”
I’m picking up a chip when the door opens, and Theo and Hunter walk in.
“Perfect timing,” Luca says, waving them over.
“For what?” Theo asks, glancing around the table.
Arlo grins at him. “For a salsa taste test.”
Sitting down on the floor, Austin waves a hand over the table. “Luca and I each made a salsa. Try them both and let us know which one you like best.”
Everyone digs into the chips and salsa,oohingandahhingand crunching on their chips.
“Yellow,” Theo says after he’s tried both.
“I like the blue bowl best,” Hunter says. “The spice is real good.”
“I like the blue too.” So much, in fact, that I lean forward and scoop up some more and shove another bite into my mouth.
Luca’s indignant scoff has me pausing mid-chew. “Wha’?” I ask around my mouthful of chip.
“You can’t be tied. Someone has to win.”
Luca turns to Austin with a pout. “We need another friend, so it’s not an even number.”
“Who was who?” Theo asks, leaning past me to grab another chip.
“Austin was blue. I was yellow.”
I shoot him a grin. “So you were hoping I’d choose yellow?”
He waves his hands around in faux outrage. “Obviously.”
Pressing a kiss to Luca’s forehead, Austin grins. “You can’t win ’em all, baby.”
