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“I never knew I had fifties housewife fantasies, but goddamn, apparently I do.”
“We’re even, since you’ve fulfilled every rock star fantasy I never wanted to have.”
Heather and Nina arrived a few minutes later. I hugged Nina and attempted a smile at Heather. Jude still had no idea about what went down over the summer, so he was friendly to them both.
Juan arrived last, and when Tino pulled him into the living room, he took a retreating step. None of us had any chill. We were all staring at him excitedly, but it couldn’t have been an easy room to walk into.
He waved timidly, his grip tight on Tino’s hand. He wasn’t anything like I would have pictured Tino going for, but he was adorable. Juan was shorter than Tino, with a slighter build. He wore horn-rimmed glasses and his hair was sleeked into a pompadour. He had a rockabilly vibe going, with cuffed jeans and a short-sleeve collared shirt.
I was the first to go to him, introducing myself and giving him a tight hug. By the time we sat down to dinner, everyone had followed suit.
I served dinner family style, and once everything was on the table, Jude pulled me into his lap, kissing my neck.
“I can’t eat dinner in your lap.”
His arms held firm around my waist. “Need you here.”
I turned my head, kissing his cheek. “I’ll be right next to you, you needy man.”
He finally let me go, but not far. He kept my knee firmly grasped in his hand and his shoulder pressed against mine. He’d been pretty much like this since he got back from the tour, like he was making up for lost time. I didn’t mind at all. I soaked up Jude’s affection like it was a finite resource.
“Damn, Tali-bear, this shit is delicious,” Jin announced, stuffing pasta into his mouth.
“Good job, Tals. Those cooking lessons paid for themselves,” Nina said.
I scoffed. “My mom would be mortally offended if she heard you say I learned how to make sauce at cooking lessons. But thank you.”
Tino leaned close to Juan, explaining the joke. “I nearly burned the place down and Nina almost gave everyone salmonella.”
Juan smiled. “I’ll have to cook for you.”
“What’s your specialty?” I asked.
“I’m a southern boy. Grew up in Georgia. It’ll always be soul food,” he replied.
Jeremy banged his hand on the table. “I love Tali’s cooking, but I’m all in for soul food. Especially if there are hush puppies.”
Juan laughed. “I can do hush puppies.”
Jeremy raised his beer bottle. “I’m in. Name the date.”
“It’ll have to be soon, since we won’t be in town too much longer,” Seven said.
Jude’s fingers tightened on my knee. “That hasn’t been decided.”
Seven rolled his eyes and groaned. “Fuck, Jude. Use your brain, not your dick.”
Jude shot up from his chair so fast, it toppled backward. “Don’t you dare, Sev. We’re not doing this right now.”
Seven leaned back in his chair languidly, his eyes on me instead of Jude. “A year ago, you’d have jumped at the chance to record in New York. Now you have to think about it? I know you think you hold all the cards, being the pretty face of the band, but the rest of us get a say too.”
Jin smacked the back of Seven’s head. “Shut up, dude. This is a band matter. Don’t ruin Tali’s dinner.”
Seven sneered at me. “You gonna tell your boy he’s gotta stick around here, or are you going to let him go?”
Before I could even process his question to begin to formulate a response, Jude’s fist came hammering down on the table next to me, rattling silverware and sloshing drinks from glasses. His chest heaved as he stared Seven down.
“Don’t talk to her. Don’t even look at her.” His voice had gone eerily quiet. The entire room was eerily quiet.
