Page 91 of Surrender
Colbie moved aside and allowed him to get it because she knew telling him she had it would just be a waste of her breath. Dallis followed her back down the hall and into the kitchen. She had never used it, so she wasn’t surprised it still had the tag hanging from the lid.
“Mom, will you be okay by yourself a few minutes for me to borrow Colbie?” Dallis asked.
“That depends. Do you plan on bringing her back before everyone arrives?”
Colbie listened to Dallis snort. “Yeah, I will.”
Dallis took her hand in his, and Colbie allowed him to lead her out of the back door. He took her over to the tables he’d set up.
“This table will only fit seven people, so it’s probably best to use the one you wanted to use for food to seat everyone since it’s bigger.”
“But will we be able to get all the food on the smaller table?” she questioned, looking between the two tables.
“I don’t see why not. If we need to, we can leave the desserts inside or place some dishes in the middle of the bigger table.”
Colbie nodded. “Okay.”
Dallis gripped her chin. “It’ll be fine. Regardless of what happens, nothing is going to change between us.”
She smiled at him because she knew he was right, and he leaned down and pecked her on the lips. “I’m going to grab the chairs. I’m sure my mother will come looking if I don’t let you go back inside.”
Colbie found herself laughing because she didn’t doubt it, turning to head back into the house. She still had things to do before the rest of her family arrived.
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Colbie’s mother did not like him, and Dallis could care less about it. However, he would give it to her. She was almost good at hiding it. He didn’t miss the looks she’d throw him now and then since they’d been introduced nearly an hour ago. He couldn’t tell what the looks meant. But he suspected that he would know before the afternoon was over and the evening filtered in.
For the most part, the group had been separated into smaller ones. His mother talked to Cameron while the two blew bubbles with Cassie. His father and Carter were talking, and Denise, who’d initially been over with his mother, Cameron, and Cassie, had stepped off to the side to take a call before calling Colbie over. While he and Drew talked about the recent NFL draft picks.
His father was pulling the final items off the grill, and they were getting ready to eat. Colbie made her way to them, asking if Dallis and Drew would help her bring out the other dishes inside the house.
Once they’d taken the food out of the house, Dallis ducked back inside for a moment while they rearranged the food on the table, grabbing two of the throw pillows from the couch. When he made it back outside, he placed them in the chair Cassie would be sitting in by her mother.
“Thank you, Dallis,” Cameron stated with a smile.
“It’s no problem.”
They’d all fixed their plates and were sitting around eating and listening to Cassie tell them about the dance they were learning in ballet and how she was excited because of all the jumps in it. When she lapsed into silence, focusing on eating her food, Carter decided to start the conversation, which Dallis knew was coming eventually.
“So, Dallis, tell me about yourself. Do you work?”
“I do. I’m a junior partner at a software distribution company.”
“That sounds interesting. Do you mind telling me about it?” Carter inquired.
“We work with app developers to host and distribute their creations into the different application stores and platforms, as well as helping with coding if needed. We’ll also expand to distribute gaming software for computer-based games in a few months.”
“I’m in the wrong field,” Drew stated. “I’d be more than willing to let someone pay me to distribute games.”
“You seem quite young to be a junior partner in what I’m assuming is a complex field,” Denise stated. Dallis knew she was only saying that because he’d decided to shave. He did tend to look his age when he did so, versus when he didn’t. “How long did you have to attend college for that?”
Dallis felt Colbie’s hand on his leg, and she squeezed it gently before she spoke. “Dallis is actually going to college in the fall.” She then took a bite of the baked beans on her plate.
“Come again?” Denise questioned.
Dallis knew she didn’t need them to repeat what Colbie had just said and wanted to make sure she heard what she thought she had. Since he wasn’t the one that dropped the bomb, he wasn’t going to repeat it, and it seemed his girlfriend had no desire to. When Denise realized this, she tried another approach.
“How old are you, Dallis?”
