Page 80 of Bookworm
Oh, God.
“Family dinner,” I sighed, my eyes drifting closed. It was our week to host everyone at our new house.
“I figured you’d forget,” he said with a shrug and an easy grin, not a stitch of frustration in his voice.
I grabbed my purse, slinging it over my shoulder and pulled the door shut behind me, locking up. “I put the brisket in the slow cooker before I left, but?—”
“I took care of it after my two o’clock class.”
The deadbolt clicked, securing my office and the valuable books inside. “What about the roast vege?—”
“Also done,” he said, strolling way too casually toward the elevators. “We just need to warm them up with the bread a few minutes before dinner.”
I worried my bottom lip as I jammed my finger into the elevator call button. Maybe the stairs would be faster? Our house is only a ten minute walk, but still. “What about the apple crumb?—”
“Harper,” Adam said gently, turning to face me. His large hands fell to my waist and he tugged me closer, whispering, “It’s taken care of. All you need to do is come home.” He dropped his mouth to mine, kissing me until we were interrupted by the elevator dinging and arriving.
Two years in and he could still make me dizzy from his intoxicating kiss. The heat of his palm pressed against my lower back, guiding me onto the elevator. “Is everyone there already? Am I going to show up late to my own dinner?”
“They’re all arriving around six,” he said. “Plenty of time for a nice walk home with Verne to get his zoomies out before your crazy family takes over our house.”
“Mycrazy family!?” I feigned outrage and clutched my imaginary pearls.
But Adam didn’t fall for it, merely giving me an arched eyebrow in response. “Last time everyone came over, your little brothers played The Floor is Lava and stomped muddy shoe prints all over my grandmother’s hand embroidered pillows.”
I cringed. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”
Leaves crunched beneath my leather boots as we made the ten block walk home. It wasn’t until we turned left onto our street that I realized Verne was all dressed up in a new leash and collar and a bandana. They all had little Yodas on them and the handle of the leash was a small lightsaber.
I bent down to give Verne a big kiss on his boxy forehead. “Well, it looks like someone got a makeover!”
We were only a few steps away from our little townhouse when I saw them.
Mine and Adam’s entire families lining the walkway to our front door. Granted, my family took up a lot more of that group.
They were all holding lightsabers in the air, creating a Star Wars archway leading to our front door.
I froze, looking at the spectacle before us. “What in the ever loving Jedi mind trick is going on?”
“Huh,” Adam said, a smirk tilting his mouth. “They must all be early.”
“An hour early… standing in our front lawn… withlightsabers.”
“Yeah.Weird.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and lifted my hand to poke at the dimple on his cheek. “An actor, you are not.”
His smirk lifted in a full on grin and he squeezed my hand. “Come on.”
At the start of the human archway, Enzo and Simon stood there, grinning like crazy people. With her free hand, Enzo rubbed at her baby bump and together, they said, “Adam is wookie to have you.”
I blinked, surprised at the pun. Then, without pausing, Haylee cleared her throat on the opposite side of Enzo and Simon where she stood beside her husband, Finn. She already had tears streaming down her face. “Without you,” Haylee said, sniffing. “Adam would be all aclone.”
A laugh bursted out of me. I didn’t know what the hell to expect here with this display, but hearing sweet little Haylee give me a cheesy Star Wars pun was not it.
Finn groaned and leaned into Haylee, “Do I really have to say this shit?”
She elbowed him in the ribs and with a grunt, he added, “Yep, he’d be lost withoutchew.”
