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“Alright, are we gonna talk about it or not?” Alex finally said. Olin looked up from his slice of pizza, pepperoni and jalapeños for him and his brothers, and just mushrooms for their dad. Lars was proud of his new pizza oven out back and he was downright insulted when Wes had suggested they order in.
“Talk about what, my son?” their dad asked before taking a sip of his Pilsner.
Alex looked around the table at each of them, a serious determination in his eyes. “Fine. For the first time ever, I’m the single one and all three of you have situationships, some good, some bad.” He glared directly at Wes. “And we’re just gonna sit here and talk about my job.”
“What? Your job is fascinating,” Wes said. “I’ve never sutured anything before, let alone an artery of a guy who got shot with a crossbow by his own kid. Very Rambo of you.”
“One, I didn’t do it on myself. Two, we weren’t in the woods. Stop trying to change the subject, Wesley.”
Olin swallowed, trying to decide how much he wanted to share about Meegan and how he wanted to know what everyone else in his family was keeping close to their chests. “I’d offer to go first, but I’m pretty confused about you sayingallof us because that would include our papa over there.”
Alex didn’t say anything. He glared at Olin for a second before his gaze flickered to their dad.
“Well I guess I’ll go first,” Lars said. “I met a woman at the dog park.”
The statement sucked all the air out of the room. Lars Breivik had been single for over thirty-five years and had given no indication that that would ever change. “That’s all I’m going to say about it for now. Olin?”
“A friend of mine introduced me to a woman. Meegan. She was my date to the arts gala. I think we like each other and we’re going to give a relationship a try. That’s allIhave to say for now. Wes?”
“I broke up with Sadie and I’m thinking about moving out here. New York doesn’t agree with me and I miss you guys. I don’t have a concrete plan, so that’s all I’m saying for now.”
Olin turned back to Alex who was still gripping his pizza crust in his hand. “Does that cover it?”
“No.” Alex let out a deep breath and Olin immediately made up his mind to take whatever came out of Alex’s mouth next in stride. Clearly he’d been using their recent news for whatever bombshell he was about to drop. “I talked to Kathleen. She’s getting married.”
You could hear Pam’s heart beat from the other room with how quiet it got. Olin had his own thoughts and plenty of feelings about his mother and her choices, but only one person in the room had the right to their own next-level grudge. He glanced at his brother and then slowly turned toward his dad. Lars bit the inside of his lip to stop himself from laughing. He cleared his throat after a moment and let out a quiet. “Excuse me.”
“You okay, Dad?” Wes asked.
“Oh, I’m fine. And tell Kathleen I wish her the best. I was just thinking I might have to get a dog of my own so I can keep bumping into my lady friend at the dog park.”
fourteen
Meegan had a crush. A full-blown, certified crush. She’d spent so many nights poring over the complex feelings she’d had for Mistress Evelyn. Even the infatuation she’d developed for Daniel and Shep had occupied so many of her quiet moments, long after Evelyn and Philip had moved away. None of those hours and hours of pining had felt like this, mostly because those feelings hadn’t been reciprocated in the slightest. But Olin liked her and there was no denying how much she was starting to like him back. She wondered if this was how Xeni had felt when she’d married Mason, the first time. Or if this was how Sloan felt when she realized how right Rafe was for her and her girls.
She hadn’t seen Olin, in person anyway, in three days. Every time she thought about him, though? Pure butterflies. She still needed help getting him acclimated to the lifestyle, but the rest of it? Oh yeah. She had a big ole crush on Olin Breivik. He’d been with his family, so she didn’t expect him to call, but she found herself grinning all silly every time he sent her a text.
He’d been very busy reading over the dossier while his brothers argued over the Eagles’ ability to bring home another Superbowl. He’d sent her a cute picture of his dad and his brothers all passed out in the living room after a long day of travel and some beer and homemade pizza. Another text with an adorable picture of Pam and his dad on their morning walk. He told her he’d got them all to watch one episode ofMatch Made in Paradise Australia, but there was so much running commentary about the accents it was clear Alex wasn’t even paying attention. He’d give it another try on his own after the holidays.
She loved burning it up between the sheets with him, but this mattered too. That she wanted to hear from him, that he wanted to be in touch with her. She couldn’t get him off her mind, not when she was picking up her mom for a Porto’s run and definitely not at night when she was alone in bed.
She imagined him every time she touched herself now. And most of the times she thought about him, she also thought about touching herself. Not a bad deal, really. She just wanted to see him again.
* * *
Thursday came quickly. Her mom and Don headed to Downey that morning, not to help cook or anything, but just so she could gab with her sisters. Meegan understood. She and Daisy had a lot of catching up to do. Meegan especially needed to know if they were gonna go key her ex’s car after dinner.
She slept in, after a long night with her fingers, her favorite vibrator, and the image of Olin’s face buried between her thighs. She called to see what they still needed from the store. She grabbed a late breakfast and some coffee, then the ice her uncle requested, and she was on her way.
The moment Meegan walked through the door of her aunt’s house, she realized the first thing her mom had done when she arrived that morning was announce that there was “a man” in Meegan’s life. If she hadn’t been carrying three bags of ice, she would have put her mom in a headlock. Meegan rolled her eyes and followed Don and her uncle Nathan, Alma’s second and current husband, out to the backyard. She helped fill the coolers with more drinks and ice, and then she turned around to find her aunts Candy and Sofie, three of her younger cousins, Dunia, Cas and Flor, two of her little cousins, Caleb and Mia, and her second-favorite cousin Cynthia and her literal baby, Coco Jr, staring at her, waiting for answers.
“Is it really that serious?” Meegan asked.
“Yes,” her cousin Cali’s traitorous husband Trevor said, stepping out onto the patio. Their youngest, Kaya, was wrapped to his chest.
“Fine,” Meegan groaned. She pulled out her phone and quickly started deleting the filthy pictures she’d sent to Olin earlier in the week. She pulled up the pictures from the gala, then took Coco and handed the phone to Cynthia. Meegan plopped down in an empty lawn chair and bounced little Coco on her knee. “I’ll answer exactly three questions about him and then I wanna hear more about the plans for your wedding, Dunia.”
Sofie sucked her teeth as she took the phone. “I’ll ask all the questions I want.”
