He shook his head, giving her a smile he was sure hadn’t existed before she came into his life.Get a grip.
The scent of roasted chicken made his mouth water, and it felt good to focus on something other than how much he liked Presley.
It wasn’t until Ollie sat in Gray’s seat instead of her usual one that he noticed his brother’s absence. There were a lot of damn people around this table.
“Where’s Grayson?” He lowered his voice, asking as he grabbed the basket of rolls from Jill.
“He said he needed to go back to the mainland and pick up a few things.” She shrugged. “I think he has a closet addiction to karaoke duel night.” Beckett snorted, trying to imagine his brother belting out some Lady Gaga or Jonas Brothers.
“What’s a karaoke duel?” Libby asked. “I love a good competition.” She blinked like she had something in her eye.
“Really, it’s just karaoke night at the local pub, but Liam and Leo are brothers who had a falling-out. They decided to split up the pub like they split their room when they were teenagers and got in a fight. They each run half of it and are constantly competing for customers,” Jill explained.
Presley’s gaze widened. “You’ve got to be joking?”
Beckett shook his head. He put a scoop of potatoes on his plate. “Nope. Everyone thought they’d make up, but instead, they built a flimsy dividing wall straight down the middle of the pub. People try to visit both pubs equally.”
The guests laughed. Gabby added a ridiculously small amount of meat to her plate. They had vegetables, but maybe there should be a full vegetarian option. She smiled at him. “That sounds like fun. Any chance of visiting?”
“Grayson makes daily trips over to the mainland,” Beckett said. Though not usually back-to-back.
“We try to keep to a schedule. We’re stretched a little thin right now.” The corners of Jill’s eyes creased in worry. He didn’t like it.
“Things are going to ease up. It’ll be fine,” Beckett assured her.
“Providing you don’t kill him,” Ollie said from the other end of the table.
All eyes flew to his niece, who looked proud as hell, up on her knees, scooping potatoes onto her plate.
“Ollie!” Jill’s voice was atypically sharp.
She stopped, looked at her mom, her nose scrunching. “What? That’s what you said when Uncle Gray said he started a TikTok count and put Uncle Beck on it.”
Beckett’s roll smooshed in on itself in his grasp. “Excuse me? What the hell? You have a TikTok account?”
Ollie pointed. “Uncle Beck sweared.”
“Swore,” Jill corrected.
“He did.” Ollie dropped her hand, her mouth pursing into a pout.
“Ollie, stop.” Jilly slapped her hand on the table.
“Which one is TikTok?” Beckett spoke through gritted teeth.
Several of the guests became very interested in their plates. Muffled laughter tied Beckett’s stomach in knots. Presley put a hand over his, plucked the roll from his hand and set it on his plate.
“People get creative with short video clips.”
“If it helps,” Gabby said, meeting his gaze with a sultry smile, “you look great on there as well. The one I saw was a compilation clip put to Justin Timberlake’s ‘Sexy Back.’”
Beckett groaned.
Libby looked up from her plate, sent her sister an irritated glance. “Don’t fan the flames.” She looked at Beckett. “There were a few others we saw with links to the lodge. Your breakfast photo acts like a backdrop. Very tasteful.”
Presley squeezed again. “See?”
He didn’t want his photo to be the backdrop for anything. The conversation shifted, awkwardly, like driving over unexpected potholes, but smoothed out as the guests told each other about themselves, asked questions about the lodge, and complimented the meal.
