Page 67 of Blade
Amber jerked her head back to look at Robert. “I’m the one who feeds them every day and scoops out the litter box. And who cleaned up the hairball on the carpet last night at two a.m.?”
“Listen to you two,” Jessi said, with a laugh. “You sound like an old married couple bickering over the babies. That’s sweet that you got two cats. Congratulations.”
Babies?Both Robert and Amber turned toward one another, expressions blank with surprise. Their shellshocked faces slowly morphed into smiles, followed by short nervous laughter.
“On that note,” Angel said, pushing his chair away from the table. “Are we ready for dessert?”
“Hell yeah!” Robert replied, even though he felt his waistband expanding and heard Coach’s voice in his head reprimanding him for eating so lavishly during the season.
While waitstaff cleared the dishes, Robert quietly spoke to Amber. “I didn’t expect you to eat everything. I almost told Lucas to slow down with the suggestions before you ended up with a stomachache from eating too much.”
“It would have been well worth it. But I took small portions. My mother always told me that it was rude not to finish your meal at someone’s house. It could be construed that the food wasn’t tasty. And this was the best meal I’ve had in my entire life.”
“It gets better.” Robert motioned toward Angel, who was practically dancing into the dining room carrying dessert.
“I hope everyone saved room because I have flan!” Angel announced.
Tommy quickly leaned across the table toward Amber and whispered. “Act like you like it.”
Amber, who wasn’t aware of the longstanding joke about how Angel always served flan and how Tommy always pretended to love it, looked confused.
“I’ll take a big piece,” Robert told Angel. The teasing remark garnered narrowed eyes from Tommy to which Robert replied with a gloating laugh.
Angel knew something was going on and placed a balled fist on his hip. “Tommy and Robert Blade, what are you two snickering about?”
“Tommy got put out because I asked for a big piece of flan first,” Robert answered, still teasing his brother.
“There’s plenty, mi amor.” Angel handed Jessi a serving utensil. “Please cut a nice big piece of flan for our husband, and make sure you scoop up plenty of that delicious caramel sauce.”
“Of course.” Jessi grinned as she sliced the flan and made two large plates. As soon as Angel disappeared into the kitchen, she scolded Tommy and Robert with the pie cutter. “You two are so bad. Especially you.” She jabbed the pie cutter in Tommy’s direction playfully. “Just for that, you get the bigger piece.”
“Jessi . . .” Tommy whined, looking for sympathy from his wife.
“Sorry, baby. You asked for it.”
“You better watch your back, bro,” Tommy told Robert, eyeing his plate. “Now I’m gonna have a glycemic incident, thanks to you.”
Robert mocked his brother with a laugh.
“What are you two talking about?” Amber asked. “It looks light and decadent.”
“It is,” Robert answered. “But Tommy’s not a fan. He has to eat it, though, or he’ll hurt Angel’s feelings.”
Amber gave Tommy a crooked smile. “Not a fan of the flan?”
Tommy leaned forward and lowered his voice. “No. The sauce is too sweet. But don’t tell Angel I said that. He makes it all the time, and I have to eat it. Every. Time.”
Amber pulled Robert’s plate in front of her and tasted the dessert. “This is amazing.” She covered her mouth with her hand as she spoke. “It’s almost like crème brûlée, only a million times better.”
Angel returned just in time to hear Amber’s compliment. “Thank you. I hope you like these as well.” He carried two plates and set them down one at a time. “Here we have coquito acaramelado—rolled coconut bites drizzled with melted chocolate and served on a skewer, because it’s fanciful. And bolitas de tamarindo—tamarind candy balls. They’re soft and chewy and have a wonderful balance of sweet and tangy.”
Robert looked at Tommy, and they both erupted with hysterics, unable to hold back their laughter.
“I know. I know,” Angel admitted. “First yuca balls and now candy balls. Go ahead. Have your fun at the expense of my balls.”
Robert might have been able to control himself if his brother wasn’t practically doubled over and falling off his chair. Whenever the two of them got together, their sense of humor went off kilter, and the littlest things set them off. And it didn’t help that Angel was baiting them tonight.
Amber nudged him sharply with her elbow. “Stop it.”
