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Ethan: I didn't say anything.
Jude: Didn't have to.
Dex: He's got a point.
Asher: He's talked more today than he has in the last six months.
Another message appears almost immediately.
Grace: Since when are YOU in this chat?
I look up from my phone just in time to see Asher lift one eyebrow across the table.
Asher: Few months.
Grace: Oh.
Grace: Must've missed the notification.
Asher: I'll gladly leave if Ethan stops adding me back.
Ethan looks up from his phone. “Not happening.”
Grace: I didn't mean it like that, Ash. I'm glad you're here.
Something about that last message makes me glance toward Grace. She's looking across the table at Asher, but the playful expression she wore a second ago is gone. The moment he catches her staring, she drops her gaze to her plate.
Interesting.
Asher doesn't look away as quickly. He watches her for another second, his expression giving absolutely nothing away, before Liam tugs on his sleeve and pulls his attention back to him.
“More potatoes,” Liam says, pointing at the bowl.
Asher immediately reaches for it, and whatever just passed between him and Grace disappears as quickly as it appeared.
Okay...
My phone buzzes again.
Grace: I'm just happy Moody Number Two is finally communicating.
I frown at the screen.
Nora: Moody Number Two? I need context. @Grace
Grace: Jude.
Oh.
My smile grows as I type.
Nora: I call him Grumpy.
Silence.
Not normal silence either.
The kind that makes me slowly lift my head because suddenly, somehow, an entire Hawthorne family has stopped talking except for Josh and Lily.
