Page 30 of Instinct & New Identity

Val snorted beside me, and my eyes widened at the bluntness of her statement, butIwasn’t offended asIknew she meant it as a compliment.

“Mom,”Vincegrowled from the kitchen island, a clear warning to her.

“I’m leaving,I’mleaving!” she yelled as she scurried out of the kitchen and slammed the front door behind her.

“I’m sorry,”Vincesaid to the room.

“It’s okay.She’svery sweet,”Idefended her toVince.

“At her core, she is very sweet, but she has no filter and often says whatever is on her mind without thinking about how it might make other people feel.”Hegrinned like he had made this speech to many other people before regarding his mom. “Andjust warning you both now, but by the end ofThanksgivingdinner she will have you both partnered off and planning your weddings to someone in the family or a close friend and will likely steal that cat out from underneath you without you even realizing it.”

“If you have any hot cousins,Vince, thenI’mgame for whatever your mom plans.”Vallaughed and then went into the kitchen to see what had been put into the fridge.

I laughed, too, asIwondered if his assessment of how the holidays would go was actually a reality.

“Are you sure we won’t be intruding on your family though?”Iasked him, now a little worried we were a bit of a pity invite since she knew we didn’t have a family to celebrate with.

“My mom doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do,”Vinceinformed us. “Toher, there is no such thing as too many people atThanksgivingdinner.Knowingher, she’s also invitedRuthieand everyone else atRangerShieldto join us as well.Plus,Archer’sfamily and is already included.”

That made me feel better.

“Your mom bought so much food,”Valremarked from behind the fridge door.

“I’m sure she did,” he responded, walking over to check the fridge out himself. “Giveme a few minutes to shower and callArcherto strangle him over the phone, andI’llwhip up some dinner.”

“We can do dinner,”Ipushed, feeling like we needed to help out more since he was already being so hospitable.

“You’re my guests.I’lltake care of it,” he rebutted.

“We like to cook, and you’re already doing so much for us.Pleaselet us cook for you.It’sthe least we can do,”Itried to tell him.

“She’s really stubborn about stuff like this.Youmight as well just concede.”Valwalked away from the fridge with a few items in her hands. “Besides, even if you don’t, she’s just going to do it anyway while you sneak away to the shower.”

Val turned to me, giving me an overdramatic wink, then turned back toVinceand grinned.Hegrinned back and conceded.Heleft to shower and likely reprimand his cousin for snitching on him to his mother, which made me chuckle a little.

“What’s so funny?”Valasked me.

“You metArcher,”Itold her. “Justimagining someone yelling at him and giving him crap makes me laugh.”

“Yeah.”Vallaughed too. “I’mkind of sorry we won’t get to see his reaction.”

“Why don’tIget something started, and you go see if you can findHarryand make sureVince’smom didn’t catnap him on her way out,”Ijoked, andValchuckled.

After reportingHarry’sexistence,Valcame and helped me make dinner.Wedecided onMexicanpizzas because they were quick and easy to make.Thethree of us sat down for dinner at his bar and enjoyed some light conversation, mostly surroundingArcher’simpending safety and what we could bring for the meal next week.

It was a little colder out tonight, soVincedidn’t sit out on the patio after we cleaned up dinner.Heoffered to set up a movie if we wanted to watch it.Valdeclined, saying she wanted to get some homework done for her online classes.Sinceshe was working full-time now, she didn’t want to fall behind.

For me,Iwasn’t ready to turn in for the night, soItookVinceup on his offer to watch a movie.Itold myself it was becauseIwanted to get to know him more, butI’dbe lying ifIdidn’t also admit thatIwas hoping to sit next to him on that couch and maybe accidentally fall asleep in his arms.

12

VINCE

The movie was a ruse.Ireally just wanted to spend more time withCat.Ifall we did was talk and watch the movie, that would be fine, althoughIalso found myself thinkingIwouldn’t mind kissing her and touching that amazing body of hers.Iwasn’t going to press becauseIknew she had a lot going on in her mind with the move, but myGod, if she ever gave me even the smallest sign she was interested,Iwould be ready.

My thoughts had been consumed by her the last few days.Howeasy she was to talk to.HowgladIwas to have her back.Howgood her body looked in just about everything she wore.Howgood that body would feel in my hands and underneath me.

We didn’t end up watching much of the movie.Instead, we spent most of our time talking and catching up on the couch.First,Iexplained a little more about the four million relatives that apparently would be showing up forThanksgivingmeal—not really, butIknew my mom, and it would be a lot.Ialso confirmed withArcherearlier that my mother did, in fact, invite the entire staff ofRangerShieldSecurity, thoughIdoubted most of them would come.

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