Page 73 of Bean

Since I had nothing better to do, I put out the nice placemats and Nash’s grandma’s fancy china, then decided to roll some dark-blue cotton napkins into a little circle and put them on each plate. We usually drank out of plastic cups, but that wouldn’t do, so I used the fancy wine glasses. None of us were drinkers, but it looked so much nicer.

I studied the table. It was a heck of a lot fancier than we usually had it, but something was missing. We needed some atmosphere. Didn’t Heath bring over some kind of candle the other day? Something blue that smelled like the ocean?

I checked the living room. Yup, there it was on the coffee table. Perfect. I added it to the dinner table and stepped back to admire my handiwork.

Creek stepped into the kitchen and whistled. “Someone went all out…for dinner with just a friend.”

My cheeks heated. “I wanted it to look nice.”

“Don’t give him any shit, Creek,” Nash said mildly. “Or I’ll be forced to remind you how long it took you to get your head out of your ass about Heath.”

Creek huffed. “I wasn’t even aware I was bi, okay? Anyone would’ve needed time to process that.”

“Sure, we’ll go with that,” Nash said with a roll of his eyes.

Tameron came thundering down the stairs. “What’s with all the fancy shit? Is your boyfriend that high-maintenance?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said almost automatically.

“Yet,” Nash added, and I wanted to slap the back of his head—but I held back because I wasn’t stupid.

“I’m starting to think inviting him to come over was a bad idea,” I said with a sigh.

Tameron snorted. “You’re only realizing that now? That blast really did a number on your brain.”

“I thought he invited himself?” Creek added, and I groaned. Why had I ever agreed to this? This was a disaster in the making.

Nash, who had tested the stew and put the lid back on, slowly turned around, drilling Creek and Tameron with a stare. “I hope you guys know the line.”

“What line?” Tameron pretended to study his nails until Nash tapped him to get his attention.

“Look behind ya. That one you just crossed. Don’t embarrass Bean in front of Jarek, or you’ll be on dishwashing and laundry duty for the next month. Am I making myself clear?”

Almost automatically, we all jumped into a ramrod-straight position. It was hard not to when Nash used that tone.

“Yes, Top,” Creek and Tameron said at the same time, and I shot Nash a look of gratitude, which he answered with a wink. The man had my back.

Seconds later, the doorbell rang, and I rushed to answer it. Jarek stood there, dressed in dressy dark-blue slacks and a button-down shirt that revealed just enough of his silver chesthair to make me swallow. He was so sexy, my silver bear. Well, not mine, but whatever.

“Hi,” I said stupidly, then added, “Jarek.”

His face lit up. “Hi, sunshine.”

Had he been waiting for me to recognize him? I doubted I would forget him ever again. He held out a box of expensive-looking chocolates. “I brought these for you.”

I took it excitedly. “No one has ever brought me chocolates before.”

“It was a toss-up between that and flowers, but I figured you’d like the chocolate better.”

“I love chocolate.”

“Good.”

We stared at each other, smiling.

“Can I come in?” he then asked.

I wanted to facepalm myself, but instead, I stepped aside. “Of course. Sorry.”