Page 61 of Chloé

“I would’ve been curious too. And for the record, you can ask me anything about them—you’re my family too.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Now come on, let’s get the blender out—those mushrooms aren’t going to take long to cook.”

* * *

“THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT me, aren’t they?”

Ethan put the cutting board on the counter next to the stove and looked at Justin. “What makes you say that?”

“Because I can feel their eyes on me, and you left the conversation.” Justin glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “You don’t strike me as the type to gossip.”

Ethan smirked. “Don’t I?”

“Nope.” Justin took a swig of his beer and slid it onto the counter. “You’re like our papa—you’d rather go straight to the source than beat around the bush.”

Shocked by Justin’s accurate insight, Ethan laughed. “That’s very astute of you, Mr. Thornton-Priestley.”

Justin shrugged. “I’m a teacher. I have to read people all day. So, what are they gossiping about?”

Ethan turned to see Chloé with her hand on Zayne’s chest, laughing at whatever he’d just said.

“If I had to guess—”

“You don’t have to guess.”

He looked back to Justin, who was now stirring the butter.

“You’re right, I don’t. Zayne’s curious about who your biological father is out of the three. It’s obvious Priest is Chloé’s, but you’re more of a challenge for him to pinpoint.”

Justin’s eyes narrowed a fraction, and Ethan wondered if he would take offense to Zayne’s curiosity. He knew it came from a place of innocence—Zayne had such a shit father of his own, and he was likely trying to decipher why their relationship had gone so wrong, when Chloé and Justin had three wonderful dads.

But the answer didn’t lie in who thebloodrelative was. His relationship with the senator went to shit because the senatorwasa piece of shit.

“I don’t actually think he’s trying to be gossipy,” Ethan explained. “You see,ourfathers aren’t in our lives anymore, and I think he’s just curious about the three of yours. The relationship between all of you.”

Justin gestured for the cutting board, and Ethan handed it over. “That’s right—his dad is that asshole senator, right?”

“Right, and mine passed away when I was young.”

Justin’s hand hovered over the pan with the board. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that.”

“I know. But I’m digging into your personal life, so—”

“Tit for tat.” Justin nodded and scrapped the chopped vegetables into the sizzling butter. “I like you.”

“Well, three out of four isn’t too bad.”

“Three? Who doesn’t— Papa.” Justin scoffed. “I told you. You’re too much alike. But he’ll come around.”

“We’ll see.” Ethan leaned against the counter as Justin started to stir.

“So, who does Zayne think is the likely candidate?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I left before he got that far, but he was going back and forth between Robbie and Julien.”

Justin let out a loud laugh, and Ethan took a moment to study his features. The hair, the eyes—they could’ve gone either way, but the dimples bracketing his mouth? That was what Zayne had been looking at.

“I’m thinking he’s leaning toward Julien.”

“Not Papa?”

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