AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sunday night family dinners at Darian and Jackson’s house have become a staple in our life. This family is big and keeps growing. Poor Darian is on her third or fourth dining room table since Luke and I started coming.
I’m always invited. When my mother died, I thought it was going to be just me and Luke moving forward. And then Cassandra accepted us into her life, and I gained this family, which has grown into nearly thirty people, seemingly growing more every few months.
Jackson and Darian have an enormous playroom for all the kids. They usually eat before the adults and then head to the playroom. Luke is in there. It’s nice for him to have this time with all of them.
The conversation topics with this family often turn inappropriate for children, so it’s best that the kids are out of earshot.
I’m at the table with all the adults. It’s Jackson and Darian, her three daughters and their spouses, Cassandra and Trevor, his two brothers and their spouses, Jade, Declan, and Melissa.
Reagan and Skylar are both pregnant. Most of the discussion tonight is centered around that, as well as a big fishing trip Jackson has planned for him, his sons, and his sons-in-law.
Darian smiles at me. “Beth, are you seeing anyone? You know they’d always be welcome here for dinner.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it. I’m not seeing anyone right now and it would probably take someone pretty special for me to introduce him to Luke. I’ve never introduced a man I’ve dated to Luke. I haven’t come close to finding anyone special. Dating at my age is just brutal.”
Melissa scoffs. “Try doing it at fifty. One hundred and eighteen first dates, Beth. I went on one hundred and eighteen first dates after my divorce before I found my forever man.”
Declan growls. “Can we not discuss that? I’m not comfortable thinking about you with that many other men.”
Declan is alpha male personified. He’s possessive over Melissa, sometimes to the point of making things uncomfortable, but she seems to enjoy it and teases him about it constantly.
She simply smiles and winks at me.
I let out a laugh. “I definitely haven’t been on that many dates since my divorce. Not even close. Good men are hard to find.”
Cassandra shakes her head. “That’s because you wear granny nightgowns to bed. You can’t attract good men wearing that crap.”
“I’d have to want someone in my bed first before they’d get to the point that they’d see thegranny nightgowns. Regardless, you threw away all my nightgowns and replaced them with lingerie that would make most strippers blush. By the way, my housekeeper does not care for any of our new purchases. She refuses to put them away. She leaves them on top of my dresser. It’s her passive-aggressive way of showing me that she disapproves.”
Cassandra laughs. “You have a judgmental laundress?”
I nod. “Apparently.”
“You could just sleep naked.”
“That feels weird to me.” I look around. “What do you all wear to bed?”
They all smile at each other.
I shake my head. “Youallsleep naked, don’t you?”
They universally nod.
“Maybe it’s because you have someone with you.”
Jade interrupts, “Nope. I only have someone in my bed half the time, and I always sleep naked.”
Declan sighs. “That better not be true. No one should be in your bed. Ever.”
Jade is twenty-two but Declan treats her like she’s eleven. He hates the thought of her dating, which only eggs her on to push his buttons that much more. If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that Jade doesn’t spend many nights alone. Declan is in denial.
She shrugs. “It could be worse. My friend Pandora injured her wrist from masturbating too much. She’s legit in physical therapy for it.”
There are a bunch of laughs throughout the table. I look at her in shock. “Can that really happen?” Shit. I engage in more than a healthy amount of self-pleasure.
She nods. “A hundred percent. She felt something pop in her wrist when she was softening the peach a few weeks ago. I almost peed my pants when she told me. Can you imagine the PT prescription?” In a deep, authoritative voice, she says, “Due to excessive self-stimulation, Pandora Jones requires two months of wrist strengthening physical therapy.” She shakes her head. “It’s epic. I’ll never let her live this one down.”
Trevor nods. “Masturbation injuries are real. I have a friend who injured his elbow. He had to go lefty for, like, two months until it healed.”
