Page 140 of Unexpected

“He’s also a fan of yours,” Mom added, which made me smile. I didn’t doubt Dad and Luke would get along swimmingly; they had a lot in common, not including me.

Delilah immediately went on a tangent about Mom not telling her things even though they live in the same city.

She continued as we all got up and set our dirty dishes in the sink. Once everyone stepped out of the kitchen, I opened the dishwasher, which earned me a dirty look from Luke.

“Go sit down. I can handle the dishes.” And with a kiss on my forehead and a tap on my ass, he sent me off.

Delilah, Mom, and I all fell onto the couch with our drinks in hand and fell back into our usual rhythm. There was clanging and water running in the kitchen for a while, but when I glanced up—expecting to see Luke with soap up to his elbows—he was actually staring down at his phone. He had a definitive tic in his jaw, and even from across the living room, I could see the vein in his forehead pulsing.

I crossed the room and stood next to him at the sink. I peeked over his shoulder and noticed the ten missed calls from the same phone number as well as a text message that had just come through.

While I looked over his shoulder, he opened the text.

Unknown: Can’t wait to see you soon, Bear.

The woman didn’t waste any time with the sinister, obscure threats.

“Is that the first text she’s sent you?” I whispered.

His phone was gripped tight, his knuckles white with the force, and his only response was a quick nod. The frustration and anger were sweeping off him in waves. I wanted to do something to lessen the impact of it all, but the only thing that came to mind was to run my nails down his back. He shivered under my touch and relaxed slightly.

“How about a game?” Mom asked no one in particular.

“Clue!” Delilah volunteered, and Mom and I groaned in unison.

“I don’t have Clue, D. It’s either Scrabble or Dominoes.”

“Seriously? You have to keep Clue around so when I’m here, we can play.”

I turned to Luke who was watching all of us with an amused smirk as he leaned over the sink.

“When we were kids, Delilah got so angry while playing Clue that she raged and threw the entire board at my head. That’s what the scar just above my lip is from,” I said, pointing to the faint scar above my upper lip.

“That’s a lie!” Delilah hollered from behind the bathroom door.

“No, it’s not!”

“But it’s also happened a few times since. So, now, we do not play Clue.”

Luke’s smirk turned into a smile that lit his green eyes as well. With his arms banded around my waist, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine briefly. My heart pounded in my chest, and my body craved more even with just a small kiss.

“I like Clue, too,” he muttered against my mouth.

Distraction was complete, but not for long as his phone buzzed on the counter one more time.

FORTY-NINE

Hazel

Thanksgiving was a success.After several rounds of dominoes and a very heated game of Monopoly, which I found in one of the many boxes I’d yet to unpack, we had two additional empty bottles of wine. Mom, Luke, and I were crying tears of laughter as we watched Delilah storm out of the room in a rage that she’d been beaten.

Their flight was early the next day, and I was truly sad to see them go. Having them there made the little space feel more like home. All it needed was some laughter and Monopoly, I guessed.

On their way out, they both told me that they approved of Luke. Mom told me that Luke seemed like a “sweet soul” while Delilah said he was “yummy.”

I left them with a promise to go to Nashville for Christmas. It was a lot less likely I’d run into Michael or his family since they usually spent the holiday with their extended family out of state, and that gave me enough peace of mind to plan ahead of time.

Mom and Delilah also requested that I bring Luke, and as much as I wanted to tell them he’d be there, that seemed like only something you bring a boyfriend to or someone you’ve committed to, and we technically weren’t either yet.

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