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“We already tried that.”
He shook his head, gazing out toward the kitchen. His great-grandparents had moved to Hawaii shortly after they got married. His grandma, his mom, and Marcus were all born there, and almost his entire family— aunties and uncles and so many cousins— all lived there until his grandparents moved to Colorado when he was young. One of his favorite things was that his extended family was always around, always in his life.
Even when he moved to Colorado, he shared his grandparents’ house with a couple of his cousins. He got that same feeling of being in a big, crazy, loving family whenever he was with the Zimmermans, too. He looked back at Dustin. “I have no living relatives in this state anymore. The Zimmermans may not be my blood, but they are my family. I don’t want to lose them.”
* * *
Once Marcus was back in the kitchen, he tried to put his conversation with Dustin out of his mind, but the night wasn’t nearly busy enough to keep his brain from having time to think and daydream.
What if Joselyn was feeling the same things that he was feeling? What if that look on her face right before they didn’t kiss had been a window into how she’d really felt? And if it was, what would happen if they did secretly date? Maybe they didn’t have to tell the Zimmermans until they knew how things were going to turn out.
And if things didn’t work out, well, he and Joselyn knew how to deal with that. They were practically experts at it.
Then he started imagining dates with Joselyn in detail. Where they would go, what they would do, how much they’d laugh, how much he’d love every moment of it.
Which, of course, got Marcus thinking about that room that Nate was building into the ice cream shop for his future kids to play in. It made him realize that he’d been imagining those kids being his and Joselyn’s all along without even realizing it.
But of course, he had. He’d had a hard time over the past decade picturing his life with anyone other than Joselyn no matter how hard he tried.
So, he imagined going to Everett’s house and getting Kennon on a video chat so the three of them could talk. What would he say? “Hey, remember back when you two made me promise that I would never date your sister? What do you say you release me from that promise? Because I’ve loved her for half my life, and I’d like to see if we can make things work between us.”
Everett would probably cross his arms and say, “Remember that time when the four of us went to the lake and you and Joselyn spent the whole time arguing about whether or not the lake was deep enough that the fish at the bottom didn’t have eyes because it was so dark down there that they didn’t need to see? Neither of you was willing to back down, so you just argued the entire day.”
Marcus would roll his eyes and say, “I was eleven.”
And then Everett would probably say something like, “Listen. Joselyn has been my sister her entire life. And you’ve practically been my brother for two decades. I know you both well, so trust me when I say that I don’t think it would work out for the two of you. Your relationship would crash and burn.”
Just thinking the words made Marcus wince and his whole being seemed to fight back even the thought of that. He imagined he’d stay composed and say to Everett, “But maybe it wouldn’t. And then we’d be brothers. That’d be the best, right?”
Then he pictured the simmering look on Everett’s face. The way his nostrils would flare, the muscle in his jaw would tighten, and the vein in his forehead would pulse. He’d look into the screen to see a nearly identical expression on Kennon’s face.
If he told them that he was going to date Joselyn anyway, would that be the end of their friendship? And if it was, could he handle that? He still wasn’t sure.
What he was sure of was the feeling of peace and joy that washed over him as soon as he started thinking about knocking on Joselyn’s door to pick her up for a date. She’d open the door with a smile spread across her face, her eyes crinkling from the smile. He’d wrap an arm around her waist and kiss that smile before they’d head off on an adventurous date.
He decided he should just forget thinking about Everett and Kennon and their reactions. He wanted to spend the rest of the evening thinking about Joselyn’s.
nine
JOSELYN
Joselyn headed into her neighborhood grocery store and grabbed a cart. One of Marcus’s chefs was on vacation, and because Saturday was the restaurant’s busiest day, he was working a double. So since they couldn’t work on business stuff, she’d spent the day cleaning and organizing her apartment and was currently wearing yoga pants, an oversized hoodie, and a messy bun. But not apurposelymessy bun. The kind that started neat enough but then got that way on its own while doing things like scrubbing the bathtub and freeing the dust bunnies from under the couch.
She had just turned down the aisle with the pasta and stopped in front of the spaghetti noodles when she heard the text tone she had reserved for Marcus only. It was amazing how much thatding-da-da-dingmade her chest rise and her heart dance a little jig. A smile was wide across her face as she pulled her phone from her purse.
Marcus: Since I’m here all day, I figured I’d take my break a little early. Are you home?
Joselyn: Nope—I thought maybe I should stop procrastinating grocery shopping. That single spaghetti noodle in my cupboard is getting lonely.
Marcus: So kind of you to get it some friends.
Joselyn: I’m going to get it LOTS of friends. They say you shouldn’t go grocery shopping when you’re starving, which I currently am, but I figure that’s the best time to go. It means the next time you’re starving, you’ll have more options. Go when you’re full and you’ll regret it later.
Marcus: Brilliant strategy. This is why we put you in charge of making plans.
Joselyn chuckled and grabbed a box of spaghetti noodles and tossed it into her cart. She moved over to the pasta sauces and grabbed a jar of marinara, considering it before she put it in her cart. Then she sent a text back to Marcus.
Joselyn: Do you struggle to grocery shop for yourself when you’re used to ordering large amounts of high-quality food through the restaurant?
