Page 19 of Love Gamble

Clearing my throat, I stand up and wash my plate. “I better head home.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” he replies, turning to watch me. “Maybe you should message me when you get home so I know you got there safely.”

“Oh, um, yeah. I can do that,” I reply, my mouth suddenly dry. He wants me to text him? This is new. I suppose with the new MC about, everyone has to be more careful. I grab my bag and get out of there, sitting in my car for a few minutes to process our conversation before driving home.

And when I get there and back into my bedroom, I do as I said I would.

Corey: I’m home.

Damon: Good.

Good?

He’s obviously not giving the vibes he wants to say anything further, so I leave it at that and head into the kitchen, where Bella is starting to make dinner.

“Hey, how was your day?” she asks, smiling wide. “I can’t wait to see the mural.”

“It was good,” I reply, leaning against the marble countertop. “I’m really in my element. And I know Julianna wanted to pay me, but I’m not going to accept any money. I’m just happy to be letting my creativity out.”

“She’s not short on money, Corey. Just take it, you deserve it for the work you’re putting in,” she says, washing vegetables in the sink. “I’m going to make some salads and have the men barbecue some meat. What do you think?”

“Sounds perfect. I just ate with Damon, but I can help. What do you want me to do?” I ask, stealing the tap from her to wash my hands.

“You could make your famous potato salad,” she suggests in a hopeful tone. “Or any side, really. You know we need a lot of food to feed all of these men.”

She’s not wrong.

I grab the potatoes out of the pantry. “Consider it done.”

The men arrive and River and Romeo barbecue the meat, and then we all sit at the table together as a family to eat. Damon isn’t here, and I wonder what he’s up to. I know better than to ask and draw attention to the fact that I’ve noticed his absence. But I can’t help but start to worry.

“These ribs are so good,” I tell River, who is sitting next to me.

His lip twitches. “Not as good as the potato salad.”

“Yeah, seriously, Corey. Marry me already,” Jag teases, loading his plate up.

River throws a bread roll at his head, and Jag simply catches it and takes a bite out of it. That was pretty smooth, not going to lie.

“What?” Jag asks, chewing. “I asked her to marry me, not fuck me. I thought I was being a gentleman.”

“You want to die?” River asks, eyes narrowing to thin slits. “You won’t be doing anything with my sister.”

“Just because she buys you mangoes doesn’t mean she likes you,” Bella adds, covering her mouth with her hand as she laughs.

Jag puts his hand on his chest. “Okay, ouch. Corey, tell me it isn’t so?”

I try to hide my amusement but epically fail and start laughing. River watches me out of the corner of his eyes and then cracks a small smirk, too.

I know Jag doesn’t mean it, and it’s just his sense of humor. I think he also enjoys pissing my brother off, so he must have a death wish or something.

Or maybe he’s a sadist.

I don’t know, but I think he’s great.

“We should have more dinners just like this,” I announce, and everyone agrees.

These are my favorite kind of nights.

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