two bottles of Prosecco in her hands and a bag of groceries on her arm.
“I come bearing gifts.” She set everything down near the rest of the things and then opened her arms. I laughed, and the four of us hugged again, leaning into one another.
“I’m glad we’re doing this,” I said.
“Oh, good. I was afraid we would have to push you into it,” Paige said, hugging me hard as we started setting up our dinner.
“You shouldn’t have to push me into anything. And I’m sorry I’ve been so busy with work.”
“And Jacob, we hear,” Brenna said, and I shook my head.
“No, you are not getting me to spill anything.”
“Open the Prosecco,” Eliza said, grinning.
“Yes, we’re going to get her drunk, and she’ll tell us everything.” Paige clapped her hands in front of her chest and beamed. “I want to know it all.”
“You are a dork,” I said, laughing.
“Why am I a dork all of a sudden?” Paige asked, frowning.
“Because you’re my sister, and you shouldn’t want to know everything. It’s weird.”
“You don’t need to tell me about the sex things. But you need to tell me about everything else.”
I did my best to keep the smile on my face, but I didn’t know why it hurt so much. Probably mostly because of what I had to say next. “Considering that it’s only sex stuff between Jacob and me, I don’t think I have much else to say.”
Paige’s eyes widened. “No, that can’t be right. I saw the two of you at dinner. There was definitely more than only sex between you.”
I shook my head, doing my best to deny it all.
“So, it’s just a friends-with-benefits thing?” Eliza asked, sounding a bit disappointed. “I mean, not that I don’t miss the benefits part of a relationship. I just thought with how much time you guys spend together it was something more.”
I sighed and looked at my friends. “Okay, I’m not getting into this. We’re here to talk about Paige and Colton. And hear what Marshall had to say when you finally talked to him,” I said to Eliza, speaking of her husband.
“And you’ll notice that I have nothing to give in terms of the gossip when it comes to men, but I am here to aid with all of my wise knowledge since I know what I’m talking about,” Brenna said dryly.
I cringed. “And we’re here to talk about work and life and all the shows I’m missing since I haven’t been able to binge anything recently.”
“It’s because you’ve been too busy having sex with Jacob Queen to watch TV,” Paige said, and I threw my hands up into the air.
“Okay, what are you watching?”
Paige blushed. “Well, I’ve been a little busy myself,” she said and ducked as Brenna threw a piece of bread at her. “Hey, don’t waste food.”
Brenna scowled. “Fine, I won’t waste food. But we are going to eat and enjoy ourselves. We can talk about sex later. Because since two of us in this house are not having sex, it isn’t fair that that’s the first thing and the only thing we talk about.”
“Seconded,” Eliza added. “And I’m hungry.
“I’m starving,” I said, shaking my head. “I skipped lunch.”
“I realized that.” Paige glowered. “I tried to make sure you got fed today, but you were in and out of meetings all day. I didn’t have an opportunity to make sure you ate.”
“You don’t need to take care of me,” I chided.
“It’s my literal job. I’m the office manager. I manage the office.”
“And that includes me and my calorie intake?” I asked.
“If it has to. If my siblings and Clay don’t take care of themselves, I will do my best to make sure that changes.”
“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”
Paige met my gaze, and something passed behind her eyes that I didn’t quite understand. “I’ll always worry about you. You are my big sister. My much older, yet not always wiser sister.”
I threw another piece of bread since Brenna didn’t have one in her hand.
“Hey, that is perfect French bread for the spinach artichoke dip I made,” Eliza said and went to work setting up our plates.
“And it’s amazing,” Brenna said, her mouth full of it.
“Okay, we have the artichoke dip. We also have honey chicken skewers, rice bao balls, and a veggie tray,” Brenna noted, going through her list.
“I brought meatballs, as well,” Paige interjected, pulling out the Crock-Pot I hadn’t realized was in her bag. “The little sweet ones that you just need to use a