Page 71 of The Boyfriend Gamble

Everett called them tawny-brown gold.

I just called them amazing.

Jasper’s are pretty cute. A lovely shade of stormy sky dark gray.

“Coffee is great.” Everett glared at Rayne.

Who shrugged.

“I happen to have some milk I need to use up before it expires. Rayne can have a hot chocolate, and I can have a tea latté. To make up for the one I abandoned at Starbucks.”

“Great.” Rayne bent to untie his laces.

Jasper and I headed upstairs.

The main floor was just one large room with the kitchen at one end, the living room at the other, and the long dining table in the middle.

“You entertain a lot? That’s an awesome table.” He grinned.

I headed to the fridge to grab the milk. “My dad used to come over often. We just hang out and talk. My best friend Kade comes over with his brood. His brings his husband Tanner and their daughter June. Kade’s younger sister Nina, her husband, and their twin toddlers often come by. Plus, Donna and Rob, Kade and Nina’s parents. The table barely fits everyone.”

“Wow.” He nodded. “My dad was an only child, my mom’s sister moved away, and I’m an only child, so our family gatherings were pretty tame.”

After filing a saucepan with milk, I put it on the stove. Then I moved to the coffeepot. “Would you like coffee?”

He held up his frapp. “Still nursing this. Uh, maybe later?”

I held his gaze. “Is it okay I invited them? I haven’t seen them for a while, and you wanted to see Champ—”

Even as I said the words, heavy footfalls came up the stairs. Everett stepped onto the landing first, followed quickly by Champ and Rayne.

Jasper’s eyes lit. “May I?”

Everett laughed. “You may. Let Rayne take the lead, okay?”

Rayne gestured toward the living room. “More space.”

“I’ll follow.” Jasper brushed his arm against mine before following Rayne to the living room.

Everett headed toward the coffee pot. “Man, the hours I’ve been putting in on this legal case. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”

“This close to Christmas as well? Don’t the courts, I don’t know, go dark?”

“Justice never sleeps.” He cocked his head. “I don’t think that’s a saying. Or maybe it is.”

“Or it should be.” I opened the cupboard and got out four mugs.

“What’s with you and the guy?” Everett gestured to where Jasper sat on the floor with a hundred-pound dog practically sitting in his lap. “Well, he gets Champ’s stamp of approval.”

“Champ’s a different dog from the one I met almost a year ago.”

“He is.”

“You’re a different man.” I stirred the milk.

“I am. Marriage suits me.” He pointed in my direction. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Everett had the same dark skin as I did. And he also knew me well enough to know when my cheeks were heated. “It’s a long story…?”

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