Page 56 of The Price of Forever

“I’ll have to let you know once I finally see him decompress,” I said. “He’s so uptight.”

Seven’s eyes narrowed to slits.

“Seven, you deserve to decompress,” Mercedes said, patting his arm as she flitted by him, heading for the kitchen. “We all do.”

“I decompress,” Seven shoved his hands into his jeans, “the best way I know how.”

The men erupted into laughter. Cora sighed while Jessa rolled her eyes.

“Typical men.”

“Jordan, let’s go over here,” Cora said, ushering me to the low sectional nearby. “Away from the men and their crudeness.”

She and Jessa laughed as we settled into the couches. I bit at my lip, glancing over at Seven and the Fairchilds standing just beyond the couch.

“Do we need wine?” Mercedes called from the kitchen.

“Dry white to start,” Cora called out.

“She really knows her wine,” Jessa said in a stage whisper.

“It’s all about staging the right flavors in the right order,” Cora explained. “The end result is magical, especially if you find the right cheese.”

“I…don’t know much about wine,” I admitted, feeling suddenly small surrounded by these women. Older than me. Established. Gorgeous in a way I didn’t think I could ever truly feel. Probably rolling in dough, not even needing a dumb bodyguard, who wasn’t even dumb to begin with. “I pretty much drink whiskey and rum.”

“Not surprised. She’s a Haynes tomboy,” Axel clarified, leaning against the back of the couch. Seven and Trace retreated to the kitchen for who knows what, while Damian came around to the other end of the sectional and sat down. “It was obvious even when she was a toddler. Constantly found her eating dirt in the backyard. Damian and I would crack up laughing at the things we stopped her from eating.”

“One time, she almost ate an entire worm,” Damian said, grinning.

I gasped. “Really? Was it alive?”

“Absolutely. But the louder we shouted about it, the more you wanted to eat it.”

I snorted. “Sounds about right.” I glanced over at Seven, but his back was to me, too far away to know what we were talking about. I was almost sad he’d missed his chance to opine.

“One time you ate the paper menu at a restaurant,” Damian added, bursting into laughter.

Axel stroked his chin. “Classic Jordan.”

Seven and Trace joined us a moment later, settling into an open space on the big sectional. “Everyone’s laughing. What did we miss?”

“Just reliving the ridiculous things Jordan used to eat when she was a toddler,” Axel said.

I tucked my legs under me, trying to imagine what it must have been like when we were a complete family, when all my loved ones were around me, looking out for me, keeping me from eating worms.

“Maybe that’s why she eats like she does now,” Seven piped up.

His addition to the conversation sent prickles along my forearms. I tried not to look too interested in what he had to say next.

“Oh yeah? Still begging to eat worms?” Damian teased.

“Next best thing.” Seven paused as Mercedes arrived with glasses of wine in her hand. She handed two to Trace and Seven first then flitted back to the kitchen. “Jordan has an obsession with rice noodles.”

I stifled a laugh. Axel looked delighted. “It was a premonition.”

“Rice noodles hardly mean I crave live worms,” I said, meeting Seven’s gaze for an electric second. Mercedes continued bringing wine glasses to the rest of us in rounds until we each held a glass of dry white wine. “It just means I crave the blatant superiority of rice noodles over any other form of food.”

Axel and Damian whooped, a lively debate erupting. We sipped wine, interjecting and pleading our cases as we compared cuisines, methods, salt content, and more. Time melted away as the eight of us discussed, chatted, and laughed. Before long, we were called to dinner. Eight place settings had been carefully laid out, filling the enormous dining room table. I sank into my seat directly across from Seven. Our gazes met briefly and the same electricity zapped through me, leaving me wobbly.

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