Page 86 of Mountain Daddy
He presses his nose to the boxes and inhales. “Smells damn good. Compliments to Diego.” Joe shimmies his shoulders. “My lucky day. You must’ve forgotten, but I was supposed to be stuck in meetings all damn day.”
I furrow my brows, pretending to think. “Oh, right.”
“Rescheduled for tomorrow.” Joe shrugs, like he hasn’t ruined my life.
Glancing over, I see Kendra fighting a smile.
She thinks this is funny.
I really need to figure out a punishment for her.
“I can split mine if you’d like,” Kendra offers, letting me hear her voice for the first time today.
“I’m not going to take your food. I’m trying to feed you. Guys.” I awkwardly tack on the last word.
“No, she’s right.” Joe gestures toward the house. “You can have a third of each of ours. Then it’ll be even.”
“How are you gonna cut a burger into thirds?” I ask to be annoying. Because no matter what I just said, I’d do just about anything to stay. Especially since everyone is forgetting that I claimed to have already eaten.
Joe tips his head as he walks to the front steps. “Just gotta measure a hundred-and-twenty-degree angle from the center of the bun.”
“You bustin’ out a carpenter’s square for this?” I joke.
Joe pauses. “That’s not a bad idea. I have one in the garage.” He starts to turn around.
“You’re not putting some dusty-ass tool on my burger.” Kendra stops him. “We’ll eyeball it.”
“Fine, fine,” Joe sighs as he climbs the front steps. “But don’t come crying to me when you end up with the smallest two-thirds.”
Chapter 50
Kendra
Turning off my bedroom light,I crawl into bed.
Settled on my back, I grab my phone off my nightstand.
Me: Thanks again for lunch today. It was a nice surprise.
It really was. Even if it didn’t go as he’d planned.
Papi: Your dad sucks.
A loud laugh pops out of my chest.
I’m still grinning when my phone notifies me of a video call.
I only hesitate a moment before answering.
With the lights off, my image is a black rectangle.
But Luther…
Mounted to the wall behind him is a beautiful piece of wood, with a bark-covered live edge along the top. It’s stunning. And it looks like a headboard.
Which means he’s sitting in bed.
Shirtless.
