Page 10 of Reckless With You

She threw back her head and laughed as Devin scowled at me.

Yeah, kissing the love of my best friend’s life without even taking my first step into his house, right after thinking dirty thoughts about his little sister…? Probably not the best move. But I couldn’t help it. I loved Erin. She was good for Devin. I liked seeing the two of them moving towards the next phase of their relationship.

They weren’t married yet, but I knew that was coming soon. Considering that Erin had already been married once and had been through a hellacious divorce, I was surprised that she was willing to get married again at all. But for Devin? I figured she’d do it.

Not that I ever planned to get married. No, thanks. Watching my friends fall in love and get married was great. But I didn’t want any of that. I liked where I was. I didn’t want kids, didn’t want to get married. I wanted to live my life and be with the family I had.

Anything more could only lead to heartbreak. You could lose it with one snap of the fingers, and I didn’t want that. No thanks. Never again.

“Are you done making out with my woman?” Devin asked, and I just smiled. “Hey. I can’t help it if you’ve completely bamboozled her.”

“Bamboozled?” Caleb asked, scoffing into his beer. “That’s not even a word.”

“I’m pretty sure it was a game in that TV showFriends,” Amelia said, playing with the ice in her glass. She wasn’t looking at me. In fact, she was glaring down at her glass of soda, and I had to wonder what the hell was wrong with her. She was usually the one bouncing around, making sure that everyone was fed, or at least had cheese.

There was a cheese joke running around the family. I didn’t really know where it had come from, but ever since the eldest sibling, Dimitri, had married Thea Montgomery, there seemed to be cheese all the time. Even when Thea and Dimitri weren’t in attendance.

“Yes, but it’s actually a word, too.” Zoey sidled up and took the flowers from me as Erin grabbed the wine from my other hand.

“Hey there,” Zoey said and then reached up to kiss my cheek. “Well, hello there,” I crooned. “I’m liking this kind of welcome.”

Caleb glowered at me as Devin had, and I grinned.

I loved when things got interesting.

“So, what are we having for dinner tonight?” I asked, tapping my stomach with the palm of my hand. “I’m starved.”

“Did you eat anything today while working?” Erin asked. She handed over a beer, and I nodded in appreciation before taking a deep sip. I was thirsty, and Devin always had good beer on hand.

“I ate something.”

“Yeah, whatever was from the vending machine?” Devin asked, shaking his head. He leaned on his cane, and I winced. Devin was still healing from when he had gotten hit by a freaking car while on duty. Devin worked long hours as a mailman—or, I’m sorry, apostal worker—and had gotten hit by a car while saving a dog. The fact that Devin had issues with dogs and was a little afraid of them in general made what had happened a bit of a surprise. But Devin had a big heart. And, apparently, a thick skull, because he was fine. Minus his spleen, and healing from a broken leg, but he was almost fully back. He only used the cane when he got tired. That way, he could heal quicker. He wanted his route back, and I didn’t blame him. I hated when my life got knocked out of sorts by things out of my control.

It was good that things were getting back to normal around here.

At least, I thought it was normal. I looked around and almost opened my mouth to ask where Tobey was, but then I saw Amelia’s lowered shoulders and the fact that she still hadn’t really spoken to me. Or even looked at me. In fact, everyone seemed to be trying really hard not to look at her.

I looked over at Devin, thankful that Amelia wasn’t looking my way, and mouthed the words, “Where’s Tobey?”

Devin winced and shook his head. My brows rose.

“Okay, for dinner tonight, we made brisket with mashed potatoes, corn, macaroni and cheese, and we have lemon meringue pie for dessert.” Erin spoke quickly, and my stomach growled.

“Good God. Do you realize how much I’m going to have to work out to burn all of that off?”

“I think you’ll be fine,” Zoey said, tapping my abs. I watched how Caleb was curiouslynotlooking at her.

Was I just seeing things? No, that couldn’t be. Caleb and Zoey had never dated. I was pretty sure they had never even thought about it. Right? Dear God, was I working so much that I had lost my ability to figure out what was going on in my circle of friends? With my family?

I knew that Tobey and Amelia were best friends, and he was always with her. In fact, I was pretty sure they were dating—or at least screwing. However, the fact that she looked like her heart was broken right now, and nobody was talking about it worried me.

Did I have to kick Tobey’s ass? Because I could kick his fucking ass if I had to.

And now Caleb and Zoey? Maybe I was just seeing things. Or maybe all that zucchini talk at the grocery store had screwed with my brain.

“Our friend made me a smoker.” I looked over at Devin, and my eyes widened.

“Laney’s dad?”