Page 11 of Fear of Love
“Debatable.”
“And second,” he continued like he didn’t hear me, “I already know I’m lucky to be marrying her.” While it was nice to seemy brother happy, even if it’s a bit disgusting seeing how lovey-dovey he is with Josie.
“Okay, enough with your lovely-dovey bullshit. Go be with your fiancée,” I said with a grunt, shoving him back toward Josie at the end of the island.
“Still the best Boone brother,” Wyatt shot over his shoulder with a smirk. I didn’t bother with a reply.
Grabbing my plate filled with pizza, I followed after everyone else to the dining room table. Dinners like these slowly became our group’s weekly thing. Whether it was at my mom’s house or one of ours, we made the effort to get together.
I haven’t made it to the last few, and I wouldn’t admit it out loud, but it was nice being included and sitting at a table surrounded by people who cared about you. Growing up, it wasn’t like that in the Boone household. Because it was just Mom and us three boys, she had to work one job during the day and another at night. More often than not, it was me who made dinner for Wyatt and Mateo.
We ate a lot of mac and cheese before I learned how to cook. We’d eat, work on our homework, and then watch TV before Mom got home. We only had a family dinner once in awhile when she had a shift off. When she finally quit her second job and we all started getting older, family dinners turned into this.
I dug into my pizza as conversations started up all around me. Everyone talked over each other, having their own separate discussions. Like a damn magnet, my eyes strayed to Lydia.
My gaze traced the line of her nose to her lips that were coated in the softest pink lipstick. Her burgundy sweater seemed to make her green eyes brighter. A silent part of me begged for those eyes to land on mine, but I knew they wouldn’t. It felt off without hearing her make jabs at me throughout dinner.
Realizing I was staring, I jerked my attention to my left side where Trevor and Bryton were having a conversation. Ishouldn’t have cared that Lydia wasn’t talking to me. She didn’t like me, and the feeling was mutual.
The last thing I needed, or wanted, for that matter, was for a woman to come into my life and screw things up.Again. I wasn’t going to let that happen, and one thing I knew for certain about Lydia… She would do just that.
With a firm grip on myself, I forced myself to ignore her.
“Bye, guys! Thanks for coming!”Mila called from the doorway of the house as the rest of our group slowly made their way toward their cars. The sun was close to setting as I stepped off the front porch.
I shot a wave over my shoulder before making my way to Mateo. I noticed he was hugging Lydia and whispering something into her ear before she pulled away and shot him a smile. A tiny pang of jealousy sparked through me. Of course my brother got that smile from her and not me.
Almost like she knew I was getting close, Lydia turned and walked to her car. I shoved my enviousness aside as I watched her climb into her sedan and drive away. I stared until her taillights turned the corner. With a shake of my head, I approached Mateo, who moved onto Tasha and Trevor.
I lopped my arm around his neck and tugged him after me.
“Hey!” Mateo yanked his head free.
“Stop flirting. It’s time to go.”
“I was just about to convince Tasha to come home with me,” Mateo groaned.
“Sorry, maybe next time,” Tasha said from behind us. There was no mistaking the teasing in her voice. Tasha would never leave Trevor for my youngest brother. Those two were just as sickly in love as my brother and Josie.
“Don’t worry, babe, I’ll steal you away soon!” Mateo called over his shoulder, going as far as winking at her.
“You’re just asking to get your ass beat.” I shook my head as I headed for my truck. One of these days, he was going to get in trouble for hitting on other people’s girlfriends. He was just lucky Wyatt, Bryton, and Trevor knew he was joking. It helped that, half the time, the girls egged him on.
“I could take him,” Mateo said in seriousness. I snorted at that.
Yeah, right. Mateo might have been six-one and bigger since being in uni, but he had nothing on Trevor. The dude was two inches taller and hit guys the same size for a living. There was a reason Trevor Hall was called The Beaston the ice. Football was physical, yes, but being a quarterback was different than being a right winger in the League.
“I would pay to see that,” I remarked.
“I would, too,” Trevor butted in from behind us.
“Just don’t get the moneymaker.” Mateo swirled back around to face the couple and gestured to his face. “Gotta give the girls a place to sit.”
Trevor and Tasha choked in laughter at his words.
“Okay, that’s enough out of you.” Grabbing the back of his neck once more, I hauled him toward my truck.
“Bye, babe!” Mateo yelled over his shoulder with a wide grin. This kid was going to be the death of me.
