Page 71 of Jump

“Dinner party?” She rushes to the fridge and takes out a stick of butter before slamming the door shut again. “It’s Thanksgiving! You know everyone, right?” She waves a hand over her shoulder and drops her butter in a pan so it sizzles.

I look back to Nicole, the blonde-haired bakery owner who just so happens to be Axel’s older sister. But before I can choose my own boundaries and bound out of here and back to my home, Nicki moves off her stool and wraps me in a hug that doesn’t feel all that nice.

Though, I know it’s not her. It’s me.

“Happy Thanksgiving.” She pulls back and smiles the way I’ve seen her do a million times over the years. She’s the best bakery chef in this town and the next; every wobble my ass possesses is courtesy of her sugary treats. “You look beautiful, Viv.”

I look down at her dress and grimace. “I didn’t realize we were getting fancy.” I take a step back until her hands fall away from my arms. Then I glance at Hannah, “You could’ve told me we’re dressing up.”

“What?” She peers over her shoulder and meets my attitude with her own. “It’s dinner with people you already know. That’s an invitation to wear whatever the hell you’re comfortable in. We’re not competing with Sandra Bullock on a stage here.”

“My daughter’s going to be so excited you’re here,” Nicole gushes, strategically diverting my attention back to herself and away from feuding with my friend. “I’ve been putting it off for a long time. But June’s been bugging me for a dog for forever.”

“So tell her no,” I snipe, speaking of the cutest seven-year-old this town boasts. “A puppy is a massive responsibility and not a decision to be made lightly. Chances are, if she got a dog today, they would still be a part of your family when she goes off to college. How will she feel saying goodbye and risking it dying of old age while she’s gone?”

“Wow!” Another woman—tall, slender, dark-haired, and stunning in every way—sits at the counter, her elbow on the cold stone. “You’re just a pot of rainbows, huh?”

Before I can formulate a response, she lifts a hand and waves me off. “We don’t have to hug. I don’t like them either.”

“Vivian,” Hannah inserts distractedly, her back to us. “That’s Sophia Solomon. Soph, Vivian.”

I know Sophia, of course. Or, well, I know who she is. And as I look around the small gathering at the other faces watching me, I identify Ellie Solomon too. Jen Rosa. Kit Kincaid.

“Is this, like… a Checkmate work function, with a side of first responder and fighter?”

“We heard that you and Ruiz are banging.” Ellie ignores my question and throws down a retort of her own. She looks just like her sister, but softer. Her eyes, a little kinder, and her stare, a little warmer. “Word travels fast,” she continues. “And it got out that, one, he’s stupid in love. And two, he’s keeping it from Axel just to see how long he can.”

My eyes narrow to slits, but when Hannah swoops over and places a glass of wine in my hand, my expression turns a little less severe. “You all think it’s cute that he’s too ashamed to tell his friend that we’re…” Intimate? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Ugh, stupidly, ridiculously, painfully in love. “Ya know, together?”

Sophia laughs loud enough to startle my eyes back to hers. “Girl, he’s not ashamed. Everyone knows.”

“Except Axel,” I challenge. “And he might be the most important one.”

“No,” Jen counters. “You and Ruiz are the most important ones. Then Nixon, since he was basically co-parent to the fire crew alongside Cootes. But Nix knows, babe, and he thinks Ruiz’s smile these days is worth all the heartache. So this whole thing with Axel has turned into a game we’re all kind of enjoying.”

“You’re enjoying the fact Matt won’t share with his closest friend that we’re together?”

“I’m enjoying Axel’s complete obliviousness,” Hannah snickers. She picks up her own wine and turns at the stove to watch me. “You made me promise, and I’ve kept it. I haven’t said a word about the shower sex. So, really, I have no clue who told them—” she points at her guests, “but it wasn’t me.”

Kit Kincaid, the fighter’s wife, raises her hand. “I heard about it at the gym.”

Then Soph smirks. “I just know everything. Always.”

“But now everyone is in the know except Axel,” Hannah continues. “And it’s kind of adorable, watching him stumble around with no clue.”

“So… you’re all playing games.” My temper jumps. “With my relationship.”

“So you admit it’s a relationship?” Kit interjects cunningly. “Not a friends-with-benefits thing?”

“Why?” I dial in on her and narrow my eyes. “You seem to know everything already. Is he telling people it’s a friends-with-benefits thing?”

“Not according to the florist,” she teases. “He was in there this morning, asking what women who are afraid of commitment like.”

Hannah snorts so her chest and shoulders bounce.

“He mentioned luuuuurve,” Sophia goads. “And wanting to impress you.”

“Yeah? Well…” I show them my hands, empty but for my glass of wine. “That’s cute. Because I don’t have any flowers. Maybe he’s dating other women.”

---