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“Come on. Anna has already put him to work.”
“Poor guy.” Bella follows me.
When we walk into the kitchen, Ryder looks at me from where he’s rolling meatballs with plastic gloves on like he did the day I dropped him off at kindergarten.
“Wow, he’s not so little. Damn.” She washes her hands, puts on plastic gloves, and sits down next to him. “I’m Bella, Carm’s girlfriend.”
Ryder nods, still pleading with his eyes for me to save him.
I kiss the top of his head. He tries to dodge me, but I hold his head firm. “Thank you.”
“Remember this when my birthday comes up next month,” he says but continues to roll the meatballs.
“What do you do for fun?” Bella asks him.
Before he can answer, Annie barrels into the room and stops in her tracks. We share a look. Although I don’t know her well, the smile on her face says she’s happy Ryder’s here because that means things are good with Dom and me.
“Hi, Ryder, I’m Annie.” She smiles.
Ryder blows out a breath and glances at me again. He’s done being the center of attention. I jab his side with my finger.
“Hi,” he says as though Annie’s the dentist.
“Are we making meatballs?”
She heads to the sink to wash her hands, but Anna turns around with her wooden spoon. “You’re on sauce.”
“Sauce?” Annie’s eyes light up. She glances at Bella.
“Favorite,” Bella mouths.
Annie shakes her head, but it’s the truth.
“I’ve been teaching the girls to cook,” Anna says with pride.
Dom and his brothers walk in, Enzo hugging and kissing his way around. He pats Ryder on the back. “I’ve heard great things about you on the football field.”
“Really?” Ryder’s eyes light up for the first time since we arrived.
“Yeah. I was a running back.”
“Yeah, in about two thousand BC,” Carm says.
“Want to go to the park and throw the football around?” Enzo asks.
Ryder looks at me. and I shrug. “Sure.”
“Perfect.” Enzo looks at Anna. “Ma?”
“Go.” She waves him off. “The girls and I have it.”
I smile as Ryder wastes no time taking off his plastic gloves and throwing them away.
“We’ll be back.” Dom kisses my cheek.
“Okay.” I sit down in Ryder’s empty seat.
The front door slams shut, and all eyes turn my way.
