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“On my dad’s side, anyway. He’s from Galway, but the only thing left of it is the brogue. It’s nice that you guys keep up the traditions.”

Bianca snorts, but ends it with a smile. “Just be happy you missed Easter.”

“Your family’s Orthodox?”

“More in name than anything else, but my parents still go all out on holidays, full on roasting a lamb on a spit in the backyard.”

“I’d like to see that.”

“You’re about to live in Greece for a year, I’m not sure you’ll escape the experience without seeing a lamb roast.”

He shrugs. “I feel like I’d enjoy it more with your family.”

“Oh God, you’ve only met them in very small doses and my parents were on their best behavior. When we all get together, it’s truly insane.”

“So if we were actually getting married, we’d have to worry about the plates at the reception?”

“Lexi had to bring her own plates to the catering hall so everyone wouldn’t break the ones that belonged to the venue.”

“You’re kidding?”

“I wish I was. We still had to pay for a few when my cousins finished off a few bottles of ouzo and they stopped caring. My family is a lot.”

“It sounds amazing, actually.”

“Oh, it is. Most of the time. They love me though, even if they don’t always know how to show it.”

He clears his throat and grips the steering wheel harder.

“You . . .” she hesitates, “alright?”

“You really wanted to say okay, didn’t you?” he asks, deflecting.

“I did, but you seem . . . Are you nervous?”

“Yeah, maybe a little bit and I . . . I don’t know why.”

“I’m sorry I’m dragging you through this. I can cancel if you want.”

“Hey, it’s part of the deal, right? Besides, I want to meet Alec.”

“He’s the best. So smart and sweet,” she gushes about her nephew. “Did you . . . did you ever think about having kids?”

Xavier shrugs. “It’s not a priority right now. Maybe, if . . .”

“If . . .”

He laughs. “I don’t know. I always felt like you should really want a kid if you were going to have one.”

“You don’t think most people who have kids want them?”

“I think most people think they’resupposedto have kids, or their partner really wants kids or, oops, they’re pregnant and just go with it. I don’t know.”

“That’s kind of . . .”

“Cynical?”

“No, not necessarily. I think that’s probably true, which is kind of sad.”