drinks stayed refilled, and two, to keep an eye on Brenna.
Honor was distracted, talking with Alice and Clay, so Brenna pulled Walter aside. Erin had no idea what her sister said to Walter, but whatever it was made Walter’s skin go pale. He nodded in rapid succession. When Brenna left, Walter made his way to Honor and put his arm around her. Honor looked up at him and smiled.
Brenna came back and offered up a smug smile.
“Did you threaten his life?”
“More like his livelihood. I told him to stop checking out the ass of every woman in the room, that I know every event planner in this state, and if he didn’t knock it off I’d make sure he never booked a gig again.”
Erin’s brows knit together. “Do you know every event planner in the state?”
“Of course not. But he doesn’t know that.”
Erin laughed. “Well done.”
“I still think one of us should warn Honor away from that jerkoff.”
“You’re probably right. We’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
She hated that her sister was much too nice to weed out the bad guys. Poor Honor always gave her dates the benefit of the doubt, always went in with such high hopes, and her hopes were always dashed. She dated such losers.
Erin’s gaze gravitated to Jason, who was definitely one of the good guys. Who cared about one chosen word? She was lucky to have him in her life, to know he cared about her.
Everyone destroyed her charcuterie board, which made her very happy. There wasn’t one grape or nut left. Not even crumbs. Clearly everyone came hungry.
And dinner was great, with fajitas and rice and salad and watermelon. Everyone hung out inside and seemed perfectly happy to stay in where it was cool. Except the guys, of course, who had to “help” Jason grill the meat outside, where it was a million-degrees hot.
“Dudes,” Alice said as they sat around the table and ate. “I don’t understand their need to hover in groups over a steamy hot grill and drink beer.”
“Harkens back to their caveman days, I think,” Erin said.
“And they say women travel in herds,” Daria said. “I can guarantee you that you’ll find a larger group of men huddled together at a gathering like this than you will women.”
Summer nodded. “Whereas women tend to mingle with everyone.”
“Probably because we’re better at conversation with both sexes,” Erin said.
“Wait.” Jason looked over at her. “You’re saying women are better at something?”
“Yes.” She arched a brow for emphasis. “Care to argue the point?”
He looked at her for a second, then shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
“You’re a very wise man,” Mike said.
Erin laughed.
Once dinner was over, the guys all piled into the living room to argue over a baseball game. The women congregated in the kitchen to drink. Erin thought their activity was way more fun.
She was currently at the kitchen island refilling her wineglass when Jason came in to grab two beers. “Are you doing okay?”
“I’m great, thanks. Dinner was good.”
He gave her a quick kiss. “It was. Thanks to you.”
He walked away and she couldn’t help but sigh as she made her way back to the kitchen table, where they’d set up a multitude of chairs for everyone to sit and relax.
“I swear you have hearts popping out of your eyes whenever you look at Jason.”
She turned to Alice. “I do not.”
“You totally do. You’ve got that love look.”
“I do?”
“Absolutely. No sense in denying it.”
She couldn’t very well deny it since it was true. “Okay. I won’t.”
“Have you told Jason how you feel?”
“No. Mainly because I haven’t closed off the whole ex-fiancé thing yet.”
“Oh.” Alice frowned. “Why not?”
“I don’t know. Probably because I don’t want to talk to him.”
Alice laid her hand on Erin’s arm. “I can’t blame you for that. But you can’t move forward with your life until you close that chapter.”
Not the first time she’d heard that.
“I know. And it’s a barrier that’s preventing me from telling Jason how I feel about him.”
Alice gave her a sympathetic look. “So what’s stopping you?”
She wished she had an answer for that. “Nothing, really. Other than not wanting to face him.”
“I can’t blame you for not wanting to see him, Erin. What he did to you was awful. And I hate using the word ‘closure,’ but in this case, you do need it, if for no other reason so you can put the past behind you and have the future you deserve.”
That did sound good. “You’re right. I’ll make it a priority.”
Because she knew what