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“Why?”
“Veterans Anonymous.”
“AKA, poker. Five card draw, to be precise.”
“Oooh, can I come up? I can beat all your asses. Plus, I’ve done stuff that means I’m practically a soldier.”
Star’s lips twitched. “If you feel like losing your stake, then feel free, Vana.”
I clucked my tongue—she only used that nickname when shit was going down or she was in her feelings. “Now, now, children. Play nice.”
“I’ll be up in five minutes,” Savannah snarled.
“I am playing nice,” Star answered even though Savannah had hung up, reaching over to tug on my collar as she leaned on tiptoe and pressed her lips to mine.
When she sighed into the kiss, I breathed her in, absorbing everything she had to give which was a surprising amount considering how closed off she could be sometimes.
“Eww, man, you two keep kissing all the time,” Kat groused. “You have guests, and I had to open the door!”
“Never get between a man and his woman, Kat,” Eoghan rumbled, meaning I had time for one last tug of my teeth to her bottom lip—she’d feel that during the game. “Especially when it involves kissing.”
As I pressed a final, parting kiss to her mouth, Kat queried, “Why, Eoghan?”
“There’s a lot of meaning that goes into a kiss. It’s a ‘hello’ and a ‘goodbye.’ It’s a silent ‘I’ll miss you.’ It can also mean ‘I love you’ when you’re in a situation where you’re not comfortable sharing that truth verbally with other people around.”
Kat watched Eoghan as he rested his forearms on the island counter. When she mimicked him, I almost snorted. “That’s a lot to say when you’re swapping mouth juice.”
“Mouth juice?” Star laughed.
Kat giggled. “I’m not wrong, though, am I?”
We shared a glance and chuckled. “No,” Star concurred. “You’re not wrong. Neither is Eoghan. A kiss is a secret language that—”
“—you’re not allowed to learn until you’re at least thirty,” I chimed in.
“More like when I hit middle school. I know who I’m going to kiss too.”
“I don’t need to hear this,” Star muttered. “You’re already enough trouble as it is without throwing hormones into the mix.”
“Maybe it’ll calm her down,” I said with a wink. “It made Eoghan more zen.”
My younger brother snickered, the grimness in his expression lightening for once. “It did actually.”
“Kat isn’t a boy,” Star remarked.
“No, boys have cooties.”
“Until they’re in middle school?” I teased.
She graced me with a severe nod. “Yes.”
Eoghan snorted while Star heaved a sigh. I just grinned. Then the door buzzer rang again—my app revealed Troy and Dead To Me were there, bickering as always.
“We’ll leave you to the poker game but next time, I want to play too,” I warned.
“Me three,” Kat sang.
“Until you can afford the stakes, you can’t play,” Star retorted. “By the way, I put something in the refrigerator for you.”
