Page 54 of Sloane

“You two looked cozy last night…” Sloane said quietly as we moved out of the entry.

“I wish, but I don’t see that happening for a while. She was pretty set on this year-rule.”

Sloane let out a low whistle. “I’m sorry, buddy.”

Ryan winked. “I’ll wear her down before then.”

“I told you to be patient, Kennedy,” a female voice called from the other room.

“Did I mention she has owl-like hearing?”

That made me giggle. I really liked his friends, and I loved how much they all seemed to care for each other. The way they’d welcomed me last night and at the airport on the day Sloane arrived, it was easy to imagine becoming part of the group someday.

We walked into the family room that was only separated from the kitchen by a counter that was bar-height.

A chorus of, “Finally!” rang out and people swarmed the kitchen. “Can we eat now?”

Grace greeted us with a warm smile as she stood in front of the oven, wearing an apron.

“Hi, guys!” then turned to the starving horde. “I told you when Sloane and Ashley got here, you could have some.”

Craig distributed plates to those waiting at the counter dividing the two rooms.

“Hi! It smells so good in here!” I said as I set the deviled eggs on the counter next to the platters of appetizers and asked Grace, “Do you need any help?”

She leaned down with an oven mitt on her hand and pulled a baking sheet from the oven to set it on the stovetop.

“These are the last of them.” She pointed to one of several platters on the counter with its contents quickly disappearing. “We’ve got bacon-wrapped water chestnuts,” then moved to the next. “Bruschetta,” she said as her finger moved down the line. “Pita chips with three cheese dip, and a spinach and artichoke dip, Prosciutto di Parma, and those,” she pointed to the flaky pastries cooling on the oven sheet, “are cranberry, fig, and goat cheese phyllo rolls.”

My mouth watered at the sight of it all. It seemed Grace liked to cook as much as I did.

“Babe, does this need to go in the fridge?” Sloane asked as he held up the dish with the mud pie.

“If there’s room.”

I heard the sound of skin being slapped and Grace admonishing, “You have to save some for other people!”

“But I’m starving,” Ryan whined.

“Don’t hand me that. I saw you sneak some earlier.”

“I almost feel bad now for being late,” Sloane murmured in my ear after closing the refrigerator door. Then he winked and said, “Almost.”

“You two better grab a plate if you want any of this,” Maddie said from the counter.

As I put food on my plate and sat down at the kitchenette table next to Sloane, I noted who was in attendance. Craig and Maddie sat across from us, Ryan and Grace were bickering in the kitchen, and at the other end of the table were a few guys who had been at the bar last night. Tank sat patiently at Sloane’s side on high alert for any dropped food.

Notably missing was Josh, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though Tammy hadn’t arrived, she’d sent me a text that she was on her way. And she was going to kill me when she found out Josh was Ryan’s brother.

The two had a falling out during our senior year after being partnered together for a chemistry assignment. She refused to give me a lot of details, but Josh became Public Enemy Number One after that. I hadn’t mentioned that detail to Ryan. I didn’t see the point: I didn’t harbor ill will toward Josh, and at the time, didn’t think the two would cross paths again, so it was irrelevant. But now that they might, I hoped since it was over eight years ago, Tammy would forgive me if I violated the BFF code and was nice to him again if I saw him. And who knows, maybe Tam forgot all about their tiff, or even better, Josh didn’t show, and we didn’t even have to address it.

“Hello?” came the soft voice of my friend who was standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Hi!” Ryan said enthusiastically. “Come on in.”

Tammy glanced nervously behind her toward the front door.

“I hope it’s okay that I just walked in.”

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