Page 14 of Falling With You

And now, every time I looked at him, I would think about the fact that he had been hurt because of me, and it complicated things. Because I hadn’t been strong enough to protect myself, and he had been forced to come to the rescue.

“Are you going to just stare at that bone?” Violet asked. “Do you want to go home, Sienna? We can just go home and forget all about this.”

“I’m fine. I promise.” I set down my chicken wing bone and picked up my appetizer plate so I could pile it with nachos. “I’m starving. And the food’s amazing.”

“Dillon did great,” Harmony agreed. “Brendon said that he’s really taken to cooking and all the other aspects of it. And Aiden’s been helping. Even when he’s growling about his hand.”

I held back a wince, but I was pretty sure Violet saw it anyway. My sister was far too good at reading my moods, and I hated that sometimes.

Meadow moaned. “I think I’m in love with this salad, is there crab in it?”

“Yes, it’s like a fish salad but not as gross as it sounds.”

“How does a fish salad sound gross?” I asked, piling another plate with both of the salads. I was apparently starving. And Aiden was an amazing cook. Even if he was just showing Dillon how to make it happen.

“I don’t know, it just sounds weird to me. But Aiden knows what he’s doing.”

“Yes, he does,” Brendon said, winking at us as he came forward with another tray.

“This time, he’s made you a cheese plate. So, he didn’t actually do any cooking with this, but there are some jams and honeys that he got from locally-sourced areas, and all the cheese is locally-sourced, as well.” He set it down in front of us, and I swore I drooled.

“I’m going to gain so much weight, but I don’t care. Oh my God, is that brie?”

“Try it with the honey on this bread that Aiden baked earlier.”

I looked up. “He baked the bread?”

“He did everything except for the kneading. Dillon did that while Aiden just glowered over him.”

“Aiden does glower a lot,” Meadow said quickly. “But I think that’s just his resting face.”

That made Brendon throw his head back and laugh. “Oh my God, I have to tell him that. Instead of resting bitch face, he has a resting glower face.”

“RGF?” Harmony asked. “I kind of like that. Of course, I think all of you Connollys sometimes get it. He just happens to have the worst of it.” Brendon leaned forward and kissed Harmony softly, a gentle, lingering kiss that sent shivers down my spine. “He just needs a woman.”

Brendon gave me a look before he stood back up again, and I pointedly ignored him.

I knew the others thought that there had to be something between us considering how much we fought, but there wasn’t.

And there wasn’t going to be.

Despite that night.

No, I wasn’t going to think about that.

“I didn’t think I was starving before this, but I’m going to help finish everything on this table. I hope that’s okay,” I said to Brendon, shaking my head. “Because this looks amazing.”

“Itisamazing. I taste-tested everything while he was making it in the back.” He patted his belly. “I’m having to work out twice as hard just to get over the fact that my little brother is an amazing chef and trying out new recipes here.”

Harmony narrowed her eyes and licked her lips. “Oh, I’m sure we can find ways for you to work out.”

I snorted, quickly filling my mouth with food so I wouldn’t say something inappropriate. Harmony was usually a little prim, a bit proper. But ever since she and Brendon had declared their love for each other, some of my own antics were coming out of her. Or maybe it was just her inner thoughts. Brendon was a bit more upper-crust than the rest of his brothers, even though he had come from the same streets that they had. He just tended to be a little more business-like. Brendon and my friend worked well together, but from the looks exchanged between them, I was afraid I was going to get pregnant just watching the two of them. Sheesh.

Brendon left us alone, and Meadow left the table for a moment to go up to the bar and talk to the female bartender that the brothers had hired.

Not Beckham.

Interesting. I didn’t know what was said, but it looked like the two women knew each other before Meadow came back to the table, smiling. “Sorry, I know her son. I tutored him a few times. I was just wondering how she was doing.”