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Mom claps her hands. “Dinner is ready.” She points to Cole. “You’ll sit next to Ellery.” She motions toward a chair.
I don’t bother to grumble. There’s no way I’m getting out of sitting next to him during dinner.
“How did you two meet?” Mom asks once everyone’s seated and the food is being passed around.
Ashlyn rolls her eyes. “At the inn. Duh.”
Rowan tweaks her nose. “I don’t think your mom was asking you, dream girl.”
She shrugs. “I’m just saying.”
Cole presses his thigh against mine. I glance over to figure out what he’s trying to communicate to me, but he’s digging into his food. I scoot away and lose the connection with him. I don’t miss the heat of his thigh pressing against mine. Not me.
Mom ignores her youngest child to ask, “Are you two a couple or merely co-parents?”
“We’re not a couple,” I’m quick to explain.
“Why not? Cole is your type.”
Gee thanks, Mom. The last thing I need is the man thinking I’m into him. You are into him, my heart reminds me.
Aspen giggles. “If I had to draw a picture of the man Ellery would end up with, I’d draw a picture of Cole.” I throw a roll at her and she catches it in the air. “Thanks.”
“What about you?” Mom asks Cole.
He meets her gaze, and I notice a line of sweat break out on his forehead. Good. I’m not alone in feeling uncomfortable. “Me what?”
“Is Ellery your type? I mean, obviously, she’s your type for a one-night stand since you got her pregnant. By the way, there’s a bag of condoms for you at the door.”
Cole’s face heats and his eyes dart around the room. Don’t look at me. I’m not bailing you out of this situation.
Rowan slaps him on the back. “Breathe, dude. Mrs. West gives everyone in the community condoms. I think she has stock in the condom company.”
“She gave me a condom the first time I took Aspen out on a date.” Lyric pauses. “We were fifteen.”
“You can never be too early to learn about prophylactics,” Mom sings.
Ashlyn groans. “When you don’t know boys have penises yet, you’re too young.”
“No talking about other men’s …” Rowan cuts himself off.
“Pe-nis. Come on, Jeeves. You can say the word. Penis. Penis. Penis.”
Rowan slaps a hand over Ashlyn’s mouth. “Knock it off, troublemaker.”
I turn to Cole. “Are you sure you want to tangle yourself up in this family? This is a tame day for the West family.”
He smiles and his dimple comes out to play. “I think I can handle it.”
“It’s your funeral.”
I pretend to be indifferent when indifference is the furthest thing from my mind. Despite how good it feels to have Cole sitting next to me now, I don’t want him to entangle himself in my family. It will only make things worse when he flees town never to return.
