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“You remembered.” A blinding smile stretched across her face before she graciously added, “I’m Sutton. Lex adores you, by the way, and she’s extremely picky about people.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” a gruff, masculine voice said as a tattooed, giant of a man stepped up behind Alexis’ mom and placed his hand lovingly on her shoulder. “Fucking hell,” he muttered before yelling, “We have more scones.”
“Right,” Alexis’ mom said as if just remembering something, then waved a dismissive hand toward the all-out brawl that had been happening in front of me. “Scones. Apparently, it’s a thing between Einstein and Diggs—I don’t know if you knew that.”
“Scones,” I echoed dully, then looked at where Einstein was still attempting to kick Diggs as Maverick pulled her away.
They’d knocked over two barstools on my other side and had landed near the large bar cart after Diggs had crashed into—and most likely broken—it.
“Mini blueberry scones,” the giant corrected. “They fight dirty over those.”
“You bastard,” Einstein snapped when Diggs threw a white box at her. “Those were mine!”
“And they’re delicious,” Diggs said with one of those wicked grins.
I shook my head, then turned on the barstool to face the couple beside me. “That is normal?” When they both began nodding, I made a bemused sound just as the giant held a hand toward me.
“I’m Conor.”
“Oh,” Sutton said as she hurriedly took a sip from her mug, then gestured between us with her free hand, “that’s right, y’all haven’t met. This is my husband, Conor. Babe, this is Lexi’s teacher, Ms. Bennett.”
From the way her husband’s expression remained steady, he’d already been fully aware of that, despite never having met me before then.
But now...now I knew who he was because I’d learned so much last night.
Conor was a Holloway before their new Rebel family had formed.
According to what I’d heard in their conversations and from Diggs, he was everyone’s favorite. From how scared I was to just be in his presence, I couldn’t imagine why.
“You obviously know Lexi, who is...somewhere...” Sutton went on, bemusement and wonder touching her face for only a moment before she continued, but the lack of concern made me realize just how safe this mansion made them all feel if she wasn’t worried about her daughter’s whereabouts. “And we have another daughter, who’s almost a year, but she’s still sleeping.”
Before I could respond, a couple of scones were placed in front of me just before Diggs fell against the counter with a satisfied sigh.
I glanced between the marginally crumbled scones and him a couple times before looking around for Einstein. “You do realize you were just in a full-on fight with Einstein over these?” I asked bluntly.
Diggs shrugged as if he didn’t understand the issue. “She started it.”
“She—oh my God,” I muttered before dragging my hands over my face. “Why do the scones even matter? You just inhaled enough food to feed an entire army.”
“Blueberry scones are grounds for war around here. Besides,”—he tipped his chin at me—“I wasn’t getting them for me.”
“Say that again?” Conor asked, sounding dumbfounded.
When Diggs just shrugged, I reasoned, “But if they’re Einstein’s—”
“No, no. They aren’t,” Sutton said over me, cutting in and placing a hand on my arm as she leaned close. “Diggs and Einstein just always claim them and fight to the death for them. But I don’t think you understand the significance of what’s happening right now.” Her eyes drifted to where the scones sat untouched in front of me. “Diggs doesn’t share mini blueberry scones. Ever. This is like a caveman offering a woman shelter.”
“I dunno if I should be offended right now,” Diggs said from beside me.
“We’re witnessing a miracle, hush,” she said, waving him off.
A startled laugh forced from my lungs as I took in her and Conor’s genuine shock at what was unfolding in front of them.
I didn’t tell them that it wasn’t the first time Diggs had given me blueberry scones, and I didn’t ask why blueberry scones. I just looked into gray eyes, still bright with adrenaline from his completely absurd fight, and asked him, “You like me or something?”
The corner of Diggs’ mouth twitched in the beginnings of a smirk. “Or something.”
Amusement and adoration pulsed through me as I fought the smile and blush threatening to show every one of my cards because I still didn’t know how to handle this high I was on.
