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MASON
After Karli gets her fill of Grammy’s famous chocolate mousse pie, I drive us over to the house that Jasper shares with his wife, Emma, and their daughter.
I make quick introductions—Karli already knows Jasper from last Sunday’s impromptu visit—and then we all crawl around their living room floor, playing with baby Sparkle.
I can’t tell if it’s because of her experience with her best friend’s son, or something else, but Karli really seems to know her way around kids. She and Sparkle immediately seem to have an unspoken understanding between them, working together to make a tower out of plastic blocks.
Word spreads quickly through the Westbrook crew, and before I know it, the rest of the guys and their women are streaming in through Jasper’s front door, too.
Cash and Meghan show up first, hurrying over from their house across the street, holding hands and covered in cat hair as usual. Then Davis and Alana waltz in, giggling and adjusting each other’s clothes, all disheveled like they stopped and had a quickie on some back street somewhere along the drive over here. Harry and Nadia eventually stroll inside, but only after we catch them making out on the front porch.
The big surprise comes moments later when a frazzled-looking Nicky bursts in, lugging a briefcase and an overnight bag—straight off the train from her corporate job in Chicago. All of the guys take turns sweeping their baby sister into tight hugs.
Karli ends up venturing into the kitchen with Emma, Meghan and Nicky. Alana leads the way, saying they’re going to go whip up some snacks for us all. But judging by how long they’ve been gone—and all the laughing we hear from the other room—I’m pretty sure the girls forgot that sharing is caring.
And that’s how I get stuck with my nosy cousins who start drilling me about what’s going on with Karli and me.
“Did you tell her that you love her?”
“What’s this mean that you brought her home to meet the family?”
“Have you figured out what you’re going to do about Felix?”
My head is going to explode!
I guess my first mistake was telling my opinionated cousins that I’m in love with this girl. I definitely hadn’t planned on it. But fuck, I didn’t realize the intensity of my feelings for Karli until the words were spilling out of my mouth. It all just sort of came rushing out the moment the thought popped into my head. Rookie mistake.
The guys are busy interrogating me and I’m muddling through questions I don’t have answers to when my phone rings. I’m about to ignore it, but then I see the name flashing on my screen.
“Shit. It’s Felix.”
Talk about poor timing.
Holding up one finger and shooting a warning glance to the guys, I answer the call.
“Hey, man. How’s Honey Hill?” he asks.
“Uh. Good. Got in a few hours ago, and I’m just hanging out with the family today,” I answer cryptically—but truthfully. And because my overly loyal cousins feel the need to back me up, they start hollering and yelling ‘hello’ in the background to confirm my story. I may be a traitor but at least I’ve got my family in my corner. Not sure if I deserve it, though.
Felix laughs. “Say ‘hi’ to the guys.”
“Will do,” I promise.
He continues, a note of worry creeping into his voice. “Anyway, I showed up at the house earlier and saw that no one was home. When I texted Karli, she told me she’d be hanging out with Daphne for the weekend, which seemed weird. Did you guys get into another argument or something? I know that sharing a bathroom must be a pain in the ass.”
I scratch the back of my neck. “Oh, uh. No, no argument. I didn’t realize Karli made plans to stay at Daphne’s. But you know girls and their slumber parties,” I lie with a nervous chuckle that doesn’t sound like myself. At all.
“Right,” Felix says. “Right. Guess I was worrying about her for nothing.”
“Yeah. Worrying for nothing,” I echo him guiltily.
“Maybe I should start giving her some credit for being able to take care of herself, huh?” He chuckles.
“Sounds like a good idea,” I say with a tight laugh.
“Well, I’ll let you get back to it,” my friend says good-naturedly. “See you Monday at the office, buddy.”
“Yeah. See you…buddy.”
