Page 62 of Dancing with My Elf
“Dinner’s almost ready,” Sebastian called from the kitchen. “Get yourself a spot at the table.”
“First, the champagne.” Gianna rose from the sofa and walked to the fridge.
Although I wanted to ask her more about the demon in the photo, it could be tactless. If she recognized something, surely, she would have said something. Besides, it would put a damper on the night, making me the rudest of guests.
Gianna pulled out a bottle of bubbly and raised it. “Tonight calls for a celebration. We captured one of those bastards.” She popped the cork. “Or more specifically, Zoe and Lucas caught one.”
“Well done,” Diego said.
“Thanks,” I replied with a sheepish shrug.
“It’s all everyone’s talking about at the Network,” Nova said. “They’re thrilled.”
Although I was just as happy, something didn’t settle right. “Don’t you think we’re celebrating a bit prematurely?”
“No,” Lucas replied. “There’s always going to be another challenge. You need to celebrate small victories, too.”
After Gianna poured and handed us each a glass of champagne, she toasted, “May we all continue to kick ass.”
“Here, here,” Nova said.
“Cheers,” Lucas added.
I could drink to that, so I clinked everyone’s glass.
“With everyone’s schedules, it’s a small miracle we’re even able to get together,” Sebastian said. “Thanks for switching shifts around to make it happen.”
“We have to get together like this more,” Lucas agreed. “Fortunately, I got tonight off. It’s going to be rough going back to work tomorrow.”
A twinge at the back of my neck came on. I rolled it out. Picturing Sebastian at the club, dancing half-naked for screaming women left a bitter taste in my mouth. I washed it down with another sip of champagne. Why was I allowing myself to be disturbed by that? I’d vowed to keep us more casual for simple reasons like that one. Lucas was not relationship material, and I wasn’t interested in a relationship. I better push intrusive thoughts like that aside since they wouldn’t change anything.
A few minutes later, we all sat around the table. Sebastian introduced each dish and insisted I try everything, scooping heaping servings onto my plate.
“This spaghetti à la carbonara is one of my favorites.” He added a piece of bruschetta and sautéed mushrooms.
I raised my hands. “It smells and looks delicious, but I don’t know if I can eat all that.”
Lucas brushed Sebastian off with a wave. “Stop piling mountains onto her plate, grandma.”
Sebastian laughed, and I figured this was a common interaction between them.
Dinner was delicious. Sebastian’s skills lived up to the hype. Everyone wanted to hear the story about how we caught the demon from both of us, so Lucas and I retold it. We exchanged a quick, meaningful glance before skipping over the part where we were making out when we heard the scream. That part could remain private.
Our story spurred the others on to tell their encounters with demons.
“You faced one, and Nova did most of the work,” Sebastian teased Diego. “I faced two—and my greatest fear of being trapped underwater.”
“What are you doing, trying to one-up me?” Diego countered.
Gianna waved her index finger. “As the demon magnet in the room, restrained not one, but two times, I’ll one-up all of you bee-chez.” She laughed, and everyone followed.
I couldn’t resist the opening. “So, no recognition of the one we caught?”
Shadows crossed her face, and she frowned. “No.”
Damn it, leave it to me to ruin a party with work talk. They were chatting about the past, and I had to bring up the present, tense situation. I resolved to be better around people and read the room better.
After dinner, we moved into the living room.
