Page 76 of Of Pranks and Passion

Gary’s mouth fell open again. “You still do that! It annoys Angel so much, he puts in earplugs if he has to sit next to you at the table! Do you just do it to annoy people?”

I shrugged. It was fun. People got so bent out of shape over one stupid thing. Gary never complained about it. He just rolled his eyes at me and kept eating. Even now, he shook his head, exasperated, but there was a smile pulling at his lips. I hooked his ankle with my foot, giving him a playful pull, and the smile blossomed a little more. There. That was better. It was easier to focus when he was smiling.

“So, Gary. You’re in your first year, like Easton, correct?” The old man interrupted the fun conversation, and my hackles went up immediately. Gary’s shoulders went back up and I could practically feel the anxiety coursing through him.

“Yes?”

“Do your parents pay for your education?”

Gary shook his head quickly. “No. I got a scholarship for part of it, and student loans for the rest. I did the math, and if I go by starting salary for accountants straight out of college, I should be out of debt within five years if I’m careful. I work part time too to offset what I can.”

My eyes narrowed, daring that old man to say something else to upset Gary, but he just nodded in approval.

“You’re careful with money, then. I admire that. And you’d be okay with a prenup? To protect Easton’s assets.”

Gary’s brows furrowed. “Yes, of course–”

“That’s not happening.”

All eyes turned to me again, and I waited for my old man to object, but he just studied me for a moment before moving on, giving his focus back to Gary.

“Aside from the job, what are your plans for the future?”

That made Gary tip his head and frown. “What do you mean?”

“A man is not just his work.” He gestured to the room. “There’s family to consider. Hobbies. Easton was an excellent guitar player in his youth. I don’t know if he still continues the habit.”

Gary swung around, all curiosity and a touch of eagerness. “Do you?”

I shrugged. “I still can. I just haven’t in a while.”

It was probably a good thing that his back was to my family, because the heated look that flashed over his face made me smirk. Gary already had a thing for tattoos and piercings. Apparently, his bad boy fetish included guitars. I was totally going to use that later.

I had to jerk my chin to remind Gary he hadn’t answered the old man’s question. He flushed bright red and spun around, rubbing the back of his neck self consciously. “I, uh… I haven’t had a lot of time for hobbies. I need good grades to keep my scholarship, so I spend a lot of my time studying. But I like reading. I think if I could afford it, I’d want to visit some of the more interesting libraries around the world.

Of course, that was his answer. If I didn’t know Gary’s history, I’d wonder why he wasn’t going for a career as like an editor or something. Something where he’d get to read for work. But that wasn’t him. He wanted stability, and while I was surehe’d make a decent wage as an editor, he’d make more as an accountant and the job market would never cause him trouble. People always needed accountants. I’d still mention it, though. He deserved to be happy after all the shit he’d been through. I’d always help him if he needed it anyway. He could choose a job that he enjoyed better.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

EASTON

They keptthe conversation away from the engagement for the rest of the meal, just like Arthur promised, but I knew my old man wouldn’t wait long to talk to me about it. Arthur may have convinced him to wait until the meal was over, but I doubted he’d wait the whole night. He was watching me and Gary, his eyes narrowed, and I knew he had some bullshit to say. I didn’t need his help throwing the wedding, though. I could afford something fancy on my own, and I was ready to throw hands about it if he tried to manipulate the situation to get us to postpone or have a long engagement or some shit.

After the meal was finished, my stepmom offered to give Gary a tour. That sounded boring as hell, and I was going to refuse for the both of us so I could take him upstairs to show him my old room, but Sierra grabbed my elbow and pulled me away from Gary, whispering under her breath, “She’s the nice one. Let him settle around at least one of them.”

Gary looked anxious at the idea of me not joining him, but Sierra was right. It’d probably stress him out more if he didn’t have at least one of my parents on board. Not that I saw Veronicaas my parent. She was nice enough, but we weren’t close. She tried too hard, and it felt forced to me. Still, I wanted Gary to feel better.

“Go. I’m going to have a drink. I’ll meet you back here.”

“Oh, I’ll go with you,” Evie volunteered, hooking arms with Gary. My lip twitched against a scowl, but I didn’t comment. If I lost it again, Gary might not be enough to get my shit under control again.

Those three wandered away, leaving me and my siblings with my old man. Sierra’s husband had to take a work call and walked off. We all migrated to my old man’s office, where Arthur handed out glasses of scotch without a word. Taking a heavy swallow, I enjoyed the burn as I had a stare off with my old man. He wouldn’t win that shit. He couldn’t do it when I was thirteen, and he still couldn’t do it now.

“So, when’s the wedding?” Jayden finally asked, breaking the silence.

I ground my teeth together, fighting a scowl. I hadn’t picked a day, because I wanted to get my family’s input. Their schedules were harder to work around. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that anymore.

My old man shot a glare at Jayden. “They haven’t been together long enough to consider marriage yet.”

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