“No,” he said firmly, and I turned to my parents, who grinned at me stupidly.
“We’re in love!” Dad yelled before sipping some more of the wine, pointing the finger at me. “I hope one dayyouare. It’s the best feeling in the fucking world.”
“Cal.Language,” my mom scolded, sending an apologetic look to Gabe. Dad’s eyes widened, looking at Gabe.
“Gabriel here doesn’t give a damn about my language, do you, son? He wants to know what’s in the oven, woman.”
We all laughed, and Gabe smiled, turning to the stairs behind me, seeing Alice skipping down the last step.
“Hey, Alice. How are you doing, kiddo?”
Her face brightened upon seeing Captain America beside me as she flicked her hair, sending him a flirty smile. Gabe pretended not to notice it, but unfortunately, my dad didn’t miss a trick.
“Need I remind you, Alice. You arethirteen.Thirteen. If I see you flick your hair like that at a grown man again, I’ll shave it off. You know I will,” he warned. Alice groaned at my mom, who shrugged in response.
“Honey, set the table please, Caleb, can you call your brother? Dinner is ready.”
Dad whooped as he grabbed more wine and glasses, assuming we were joining him on his red river expedition.
I called Zane, who yelled back that he would be down as soon as he had defeated the boss—God only knows what game he was playing.
Dinner was spectacular—all roasted meats and seasoned vegetables. So much food adorned the table, it was like Christmas. I joined Dad with a glass of wine, and so did Gabe, surprisingly. Usually, he was all dedicated to the game and wouldn’t touch a drop. Maybe he just wanted to please my dad. Most people did.
We helped clear up at the end, and Mom commented how we would make lovely husbands one day, to which I shuddered dramatically.
“Not me, Ma, I’m a man for the masses.”
She tutted as she glanced at Gabe admiringly. “What about you, Gabriel? Any ladies on the horizon?”
He laughed as he shook his head. “Nope. But I hope to meet someone one day.”
I smirked, imagining Kennedy’s reaction to that response.
Mom sighed dreamily as my dad stood in the doorway, watching her intently. “I remember when I first met Cal.”
“Yeah, you were with someone else,” I snorted. Dad shot me a look.
“She wasn’t for long,” he murmured before taking a long sip of his wine.
“Dad dragged her back to his cave and impregnated her,” I quipped, and Mom made a face at me.
“Caleb!”
“He’s not far off it,” Dad chuckled as Mom rolled her eyes.
“What I’m saying, boys, is you’llknow.”
“What, like Alice knows with William?” I teased. Dad caught on quickly.
“Or how Summer knew with Christian?” Dad added.
We all laughed then as we remembered Summer’s first-ever boyfriend, Christian Wells, from a couple of blocks away. Summer insisted she was in love with him at eleven years old and was heartbroken when he moved to the other side of the country.
“Young love,” Mom smiled.
“When is Summer back?” Dad asked Mom expectantly. She sighed as she checked her phone before frowning.
“She’s coming back after dinner.”
