Page 51 of Loving You

“So, Hudson,” I cut in before my dad can drill Quinn on anything more that might become too personal. “Are you actually going to work at the bar’s booth this year at the 4th of July festival?”

My older brother scowls at me, but he nods.

“Good. Wouldn’t want you to skip out again this year.”

“I didn’t skip out last year,” Hudson says, growing defensive. “I was busy.”

“For good reason,” Sadie adds quickly. She reaches for his hand on the top of the table, and the ring on her left hand shimmers in the light.

“Have you two picked a date yet?” Quinn asks.

“Next summer.” Sadie beams.

“We thought we’d keep the day she showed up at my door as a tradition. Last summer, she showed up begging me to take her in,” Hudson starts to tease, and Sadie pinches his side. He laughs and then kisses her forehead. “This year, I proposed on that same date, and next year, we will get married.”

“I love that.” Quinn sighs. “It’s very romantic.”

It is. Which, until last summer, was very unlike my brother, but again, as I said, I’m happy for him.

“How’s the marina thing going?” I ask, turning my attention to Luca.

“It’s not going. Shay hired someone from out of state, and it’s complete bullshit. She wouldn’t even give me five minutes. Told me I wasn’t worth it.”

No one says anything right away because this is a sensitive topic for Luca. Lovers is all about supporting each other, so for Shay to not hire him feels personal.

Which, to be fair, is for this particular situation.

“Who is Shay?” Quinn asks before I can stop her.

Hudson and Sadie groan, my dad shakes his head, and I open my mouth to give the shortest short version, but Luca is faster.

“Shay is my ex-best friend’s sister. Her family owns the marina and apparently still despises me for something that happened thirteen years ago, because when one of Lovers’s most popular attractions needed updating, they chose to hire anyone but the local contractor. That contractor is me,” he added.

As if Quinn couldn’t piece that together for herself.

I pinch my lips together to keep from laughing.

The situation as a whole is not funny, but damn, Luca’s delivery sure is.

“What did you do to make their family hate you so much?”

“That’s a damn good question, Quinn,” I say and look at Luca.

Since none of us know the answer, the rest of the table joins me in watching my brother until he gives us the answer.

Which, of course, he doesn’t.

“I’ll be fine. Time heals all wounds.”

I chuckle at that one and continue eating.

Conversation flows easy from there and it’s mostly wedding talk, which gives me time to let my mind take a break. With Quinn here, it’s like I need to be on high alert, ready to field any questions or slip-ups that could result in digging the hole we have created bigger than it currently is.

But shit, there’s no backing out now. We’ve come too far.

And I want to tell Luca, but then I’ll need to tell my dad, and I can see in his eyes that he’s happy about me dating someone. I just—fuck, I don’t know what I’m doing.

“So, we should go sometime this week,” Sadie says, pulling me back into the conversation.

---