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“So happy,” I murmured. “Turned me green with jealousy on more than one occasion.”
“I’m sorry, Ruby.”
His apology startled me this time. “You can’t keep saying sorry, Vander.”
“I can when it’s warranted, Ruby-mine.” He paused. “Are you happy now?”
“I’m happier than I ever dreamed possible.”
His handsome face broke into a grin. “We’ll see if we can’t get you dreaming bigger then.”
I stood to go in, and then remembered. “Vander…” I opened the front door. “I told Yiayia you got tattoos.”
He made a grab for me, but I escaped, cackling, into the house.
Inside, Yiayia fussed with the table settings. She placed herself at the head as usual. After that she mixed things up a bit. Where Amber and I usually sat beside her followed by Alex and Jace, and then Gus on the other side of Alex, Yiayia arranged it so that the boys were at the end of the table, with Vander and Gus sitting immediately next to Amber and me.
I smelled meddling.
I thought Vander’s tattoos would have been enough to throw her off course, but it looked like there was no such luck. What other topics could I toss into the mix? Blue Mountain, meeting George, Thanksgiving, bringing up Elisavet was always good for a five-minute rant.
Armed with my topics, we brought in the serving dishes and sat down around the table.
Gus was so big he couldn’t help but regularly brush up against Amber. The first few times it happened, she visibly flinched, and Gus shrank back to give her more space.
He looked miserable, and Amber looked brittle, as if she was about to break.
Gus pushed his chair back from the table and Amber’s gaze swung up to his face. He didn’t meet her eyes.
Grasping the back of Alex’s chair, he said, “Buddy, let’s move you down a bit. Mom has barely enough room to get her fork into her mouth without elbowing me.”
Alex laughed and lifted his bottom while Gus moved his chair a good half a foot, then shifted his own and retook his seat.
Turning to Amber, he murmured, “Is that a bit better, beautiful?”
Amber’s throat worked as she swallowed, and she gave him a tiny nod.
Everyone was quiet, making their sweetly painful exchange easily overheard. Amber shifted in her seat and rolled her lips between her teeth.
“So!” I broke the silence. “About Vander’s tattoos, anything to say, Yiayia?”
Gus shook his head and smiled down at his plate.
Yiayia took the bait and Amber relaxed. I slowly turned my head to look at Vander who stared at me bemusedly.
“Why you tattoo your body, agori mou? Is no good!”
“She said if you get a cross, she’ll forgive you,” I added.
Vander slid a half-smile my way and muttered, “Maybe you should stop talking?”
Amber laughed out loud, and Gus chuckled, his big shoulders shaking.
“You got a tattoo?” Jace asked.
“Yeah, buddy. I got three actually,” Vander answered him calmly.
“Can I see?”
