Page 33 of Romancing His Heart
Using my napkin, I glance down and whisper, “Is he pissed I was eavesdropping?”
This time, it’s Ashton that grabs his napkin and leans into me. “That’s not the look of a pissed-off man.”
“Jesus Christ, put down the napkins,” Loki barks across the table.
Giving Seth and Ashton the side-eye, I notice we are all sitting holding red cloth napkins over our mouths. We couldn’t be more obvious if we tried.
“Language, Loki,” Sylvie admonishes, but laughter laces her tone.
While sitting at the opposite end of the table, Dexter makes a big production of looking between Loki and me.
“Did you guys have sex?” Julia asks, pointing at me, then Loki with a fork.
“What? No, of course not,” I screech.
“Don’t sound so disgusted by it,” Loki grumbles.
What the hell is happening here?
“Loki, you’ve been unconscious for most of the time I’ve known you.” I sound hysterical, and I can’t control it.
“Consent is sexy, you know,” Julia chimes in because she can’t help herself. “But you want to, right?” she adds, leaning in conspiratorially.
“Oh, he definitely wants to,” Dexter laughs.
“I can’t swear at the table, but these guys can talk about a sex life that has nothing to do with them?” Loki pleads his case to Sylvie.
Her placating smile gets him nowhere, and he sinks back into his chair, sulking.
“Je—ez,” Colton corrects his language with practiced skill. “You guys are dropping like flies! I gotta say, though, Dex, you’ve got to chill out with the grand gestures a little. Not that you don’t deserve an amazingly grand gesture, Sloane,” he informs me before returning to the rest of the table, “but come on, dude! How are us little guys supposed to live up to those?”
“What?” My head is spinning, and I’m seriously trying to figure out how many steps it’ll take me to get to the front door.
“Who said anything about a grand gesture?” Loki asks. “Seriously, what the hel—heck is going on here?”
“I think you’ve been away so long that you forgot what it’s like when all you boys get together.” Sylvie laughs. “And, our family keeps growing. Now we have Julia to add her special brand of fun to the mix, too.”
“Thank you, Sylvie.” Julia nods her head as you would to royalty.
I think I’m going to be sick.
Chapter 11
Loki
Sloane is literally turning green as I volley between one asinine comment to the next.
“Sloane, if MSL lands in one of your books, do I get an acknowledgment?” Dexter, the dickwad, asks.
“Ah, MSL? I … er—”
“Doesn’t Loki have to screwup big time before the grand gesture?” Colton asks.
“Well, according to Sloane’s books, yes, but I’ve been doing research. There doesn’t always have to be a big fallout in romance novels. I do think they make for better reading, though,” Julia explains.
“Why can’t the girl be the fuck up?” Halton asks.
“Halt, language,” Sylvie reprimands before conceding. “But good point.”
