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“What?” I ask.
“Nothing.” Darius presses his lips together. “Pizza’s good, man.”
I cross my arms and look down my nose at them. “Is there something wrong with pizza?”
“I love pizza,” Eli says. “But it’s also what my sister orders for my niece and nephew’s birthday parties. I don’t think it’s usually something to serve at an engagement party.”
“When my sister got engaged, everything was mini. Mini crab cakes, mini wieners wrapped in dough, mini shrimp thing on a cracker.” Darius looks at Eli. “I did love those mini wieners though.” He stares into space as if remembering them fondly. “Pizza is cool though.”
Eli covers his mouth and bends over. “Please stop with the wieners. You’re just asking for it.”
“You’re so immature!” Darius opens the fridge, helping himself to a beer.
Another knock on the door and my arms drop to my sides. “Well, consider me a trendsetter.” I brush past them toward the door.
“Hey, man,” Miles, the team’s safety, says when I open the door. “Fed up already?”
“You have no idea,” I grumble, opening the door wider.
Miles glances down the hall. “Great,” he mutters and pushes in past me. “I need a drink.”
I peek my head out into the hall, although I already know only one person gets Miles all riled up. Sure enough, Bryce is sauntering down the hallway. She works for the San Jose newspaper, and she and Miles go together about as well as ice cream and relish, though no one really knows why.
“Miles hiding out from me?” she says when she reaches me. She, too, holds a gift bag, along with another big bag slung over her shoulder.
“Guess so.” She’s friends with Shayna and now Violet, which is why I had to invite her.
“Hey!” Shayna says behind me and rushes over to give Bryce a hug, Lee behind her.
“Can I get you a beer?” I ask Bryce.
“There’s light beer or regular beer,” Shayna says in what sounds to me like a sarcastic tone.
Bryce chuckles and pulls a bottle of wine from the large bag she’s carrying. “Please. When I found out who the host was, I knew I had to come prepared.” She winks in my direction.
Shayna quickly thrusts her beer into Lee’s hands. “You’re going to share, right?”
“Of course.” Bryce smiles and they venture into the kitchen.
Lee shrugs and finishes her beer.
Halfway to the kitchen, Shayna turns around. “Chase, where do you keep your wineglasses?”
I arch a brow at her.
“Right. No wineglasses. Solo cups it is.” She salutes me and continues to the kitchen.
I groan. “This is a fucking nightmare.”
“Could be worse,” Lee says with a smug smile I want to punch off his fucking face.
“Oh yeah, how?”
“You could be hosting a baby shower.”
I scowl. “Fuck off.”
Then I walk over to the coffee table where I left my phone, pull up the app, and order the pizza. Once I’ve ordered, there’s another knock at the door. For the next twenty-five minutes, I spend my time answering the door and offering drinks, doing my best not to act as if having all these people in my private space doesn’t feel like fire ants crawling up my ass.
