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“No need,” I reassured her. “I’m totally fine. Took a door to the face, but no permanent damage.” I wiggled my nose. “See? All good.”
Freya bounded inside, Gunner right behind her. “What’s for dinner?”
Althea accepted a cheek kiss from her daughter and Gunner, and after greeting her dad, Freya skipped over to the chair next to me, Gunner settling in on her other side.
Freya took a glass of Chianti from Nim, lifting it in a toast before taking a sip. “Did we interrupt something? You all look serious for family dinner.”
“We’re talking about Quinn and Liam disappearing into a bathroom together,” Jude explained.
Narrowing my eyes at him, I growled, hoping my red cheeks didn’t give me away. “I told you it was because he helped me with a bloody nose.”
Jude held his hands up with a smirk. “Hey, I’m only repeating what I was told.”
Freya eyed me, and I knew there’d be another inquisition in my future. “What happened to your nose?”
“Door to the face,” Jude answered for me.
Shooting him a glare, I wondered if it was rude to kick his shin. “It was an accident.”
“What was an accident?” Gabriel was a lot less exuberant in his entrance than Freya, looking like he didn’t have a care in the world.
I pointed to my nose. “I had a bloody nose. But it was an accident, and I’m perfectly fine now.”
“Is that why you disappeared into the bathroom with Liam?”
Groaning, I buried my head in my hands. “You guys are the worst gossips.”
“Where’s Liam?” Althea cut in, shooting her sons a warning look. “I hope he’s not still working.”
Gabriel grabbed a roll out of one of the three baskets on the table. “Probably. But I say we start without him.”
Althea slapped his hand, and he dropped the roll on the table.
“Mom,” he whined. “I’m hungry.”
“You can wait until everyone’s here. You won’t starve to death if you wait another five minutes.”
He grumbled something under his breath but didn’t reach for the bread again.
“Why did you go into the bathroom with Liam?” Freya whispered next to me. She’d leaned in, her arm pressed to mine.
“He helped me with my bloody nose. It’s no big deal.”
An involuntary shiver took over my body at the thought of the bathroom. I wished everyone would stop talking about it.
She snorted. “That’s what you think. But we’re talking about Liam here. He doesn’tjusthelp someone.”
She wasn’t the only one confused by Liam’s actions. He went from scorching hot to frigid Antarctic cold in a single instant. But I refused to read anything into his actions, his earlier rejection still a painful reminder why it was better to banish him from my thoughts.
“It still doesn’t mean anything.”
Freya sat back in her seat, folding her napkin over her lap. “If you say so.”
Thankfully, we were interrupted by Liam’s arrival. Gabriel dove for three of the rolls with an exaggerated groan. “Finally. I’m starving.”
Liam took the seat opposite his dad, as far away as he could get from me, his gaze not once straying in my direction.
There goes Freya’s theory that his actions meant anything.
