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“I’m afraid she might have sold you a little too hard on that one,” Sutton interjects, earning him a smack to the stomach from his wife.
“Don’t listen to him, Kaia.” Aspen crinkles her nose at my brother. “You’ll find my husband does not have a very good palate.”
“And by not a good palate, you mean I don’t like to eat things that are triple battered and then deep fried to the point that my tongue feels greasy after eating them.” He snorts out a laugh.
“Exactly.” She nods matter-of-factly. “Shall we?” Her gaze slides to me.
“After you.” I hold out my arm, gesturing for them to go ahead of me. And no, I don’t do that so I can get a look at the back of Kaia’s dress, or rather, what the back of her dress accentuates.
Oh, who the fuck am I kidding? That’s exactly why I do it, and I’m not even a little sorry for it either. If anything, I’m disappointed once we’re seated because I was rather enjoying the spectacular view.
Sliding into the circular booth, I could almost kiss Aspen for making Sutton take the end, which puts her and Kaia in the middle and me next to Kaia on the other end.
Have I mentioned lately how amazing my best friend is?
“Does anyone have any suggestions?” Kaia asks no one in particular, holding the menu the hostess placed on the table up in front of herself.
“The burgers are fantastic.” Aspen is the first to answer. “But Remi will tell you to order the spicy mac and cheese, but unless you want to have heartburn for the next year, do not listen to him.”
“She’s overexaggerating,” I tell her with a dramatic eye roll.
“Oh no, I’m not. He talked me into trying it the last time we were here. Insisted that it wasn’t that spicy and that I would love it. Yeah, no. It was fine going down but not so fun a couple of hours later when it felt like my esophagus was on fire.”
“To be fair, you were pregnant at the time,” I remind her.
“Just no.” Aspen shakes her head, her strawberry-blond hair brushing her shoulders as she does.
“Don’t worry,” Sutton interjects, speaking directly to Kaia. “You’ll get used to them.” He gestures between the two of us.
“Will I?” She bites down on her bottom lip, looking equal parts amused and terrified.
“Probably not.” My brother chuckles, earning him another smack from Aspen. “You are more violent tonight than usual.” He leans in close to Aspen’s ear. “Perhaps you should save your aggression for later.”
“You realize we can hear you, right?” I scrub my hands down my face. “Talk about not getting used to something,” I tell Kaia, hitching my thumb toward Aspen and Sutton. “Trust me, a few hours with these two and you’ll wanna puke.”
“Hey!” Aspen gives me an angry grimace, but it does nothing to hide the humor in her eyes.
“I mean, I love you guys so much.” I make a heart with my hands.
“What are you, a fourteen-year-old girl?” Sutton barks out a laugh.
“Takes one to know one,” I fire back immaturely.
“And now we’re in kindergarten,” Aspen chimes in.
“So, Kaia, how do you like working at Linder Hope?” Sutton asks, completely redirecting the conversation.
“I like it. It’s different from the last counseling office I worked for, but that’s not a bad thing. And everyone has been really welcoming.”
“Kaia moved here from California,” Aspen announces, though I’m pretty sure everyone already knows as much.
“Where in California?” my brother asks.
“Huntington Beach.”
“You must miss the beach. I’ve been there a couple of times and it’s beautiful. There’s just something about West Coast beaches.”
“It’s beautiful, that’s true. But truth be told, I’m not much of a water person. I mean, I loved walking on the beach sometimes, but that was about the extent of it for me. It was my mom who loved the ocean.”
