her menu. “Done.”
“What’s the special?” Jason asks.
Rome stares at him so long and hard that I actually squirm in my chair. “A shrimp pasta with pesto.”
Jason looks concerned. “I’ve never had pesto.”
“Oh, it’s really good. Rome is the only one who makes it just like it is in Italy. Must be the name.” Brigette winks.
“Well, there’s a reason for that.” When she looks at him blankly, Rome continues, “It’s where I was conceived.”
“Really?” Brigette says.
Juno groans.
“You don’t know?” Rome asks. “I guess you’re not from Lake Starlight.”
“What? What?” Brigette bounces in her chair like a kid asking her parents what the big surprise is.
“We’re all named after the places where we were conceived,” Juno says in a monotone voice.
“They spelled your name wrong,” Jason says to Juno.
She shoots him the death glare that’s been aimed in my direction for most of the night.
“Unless there’s another Juno I don’t know about?” Jason looks at us as though he’s expecting one of us to save him.
“Austin, Texas. Savannah, Georgia. Brooklyn, New York. Denver, Colorado. Rome, Italy. Juno—Wait? You’re twins, right?” Brigette asks Rome.
Rome sets his hand on the back of Juno’s chair. “To answer the first question, they did spell Juno differently because she’s always been the unique one in our family. The only one with red hair.” He nods down to her, and I watch her swallow down the lump in her throat. “And it was a layover in Denver on their way to Rome. It could be that I should be Denver and he should be Rome but…”
Brigette laughs and nods. “What about Kingston?” She looks at me. “Where’s that from?”
“Jamaica,” I say.
Brigette elbows Juno. “Your parents really got it on, huh?”
Juno smiles, but it slips right off her face when she turns away from Brigette. “Yeah, they did.”
“Rome’s following in their footsteps. Harley is pregnant with number four already,” Brigette says.
Speak of the devil, Harley comes outside, and Rome slides his arm around her waist, kissing her temple. “If we’re lucky.”
“Lucky for what?” she asks.
“To have nine kids like my parents.”
Harley smacks his stomach and shakes her head.
“Nine?” Jason coughs out his water. “You come from a family of nine? I didn’t realize there were nine of you.”
Rome’s eyes scrunch. “Where are you from?”
“Greywall,” Jason answers, pride in his tone. He obviously didn’t grow up in Greywall because the Bailey name is well-known.
“You should move to Lake Starlight,” Rome says. “Greywall sucks.”
“How long does the pesto meal take?” Juno asks, and Rome’s gaze falls to hers.
“I’m sure Rome can put a rush on it,” Harley says. “Actually, I think Len was struggling a little bit in the kitchen.”
“Okay.” Rome knocks his knuckles on the table. “Nice meeting you, Jason. I should give you hell because Juno’s my sister, but I think the guy to your right will take care of that for all us Bailey men. Right, Colton?”
Jason’s and Brigette’s heads turn toward me. Juno rolls her eyes. If I had my way, he wouldn’t even be here. I’d have some magic powers to make him disappear.
“Why did he say that?” Jason asks Juno.
She sits up straighter in her chair and her gaze darts from me to Jason. “We’re childhood friends.”
“Childhood?” Brigette asks.
So I haven’t been completely honest with her about Juno. She knows we’re good friends, but maybe not how long we’ve been friends.
“Yeah. She’s my best friend,” I say in the hopes that Juno will remember why we’re friends. Forget the fight at the diner and move on.
“Best?” Brigette asks, her gaze volleying between Juno and me.
“Yeah, I’ve seen him at his worst. To me, he’s just a kid with chicken legs and Oreos stuck in his braces.” Juno laughs.
“And I knew her when she was still stuffing her bra,” I say, hammering back an equal insult.
“Oh, so you’re really close.” I hear in Brigette’s tone that she’s silently asking if this is something she should worry about.
Juno puts her hand on Brigette’s shoulder. “He’s just like another one of my brothers.”
Brigette’s vision shifts to me and I force a smile although it feels as if someone shot me in the heart with a dagger.
Our salads arrive and Rome sends over a complimentary bottle of wine. While Jason concentrates all his attention on Brigette, going back to their conversation about Marseilles, I pull my phone out of my pocket.
Me: I’m sorry. Forgive me?
Brigette glances at me and I mouth “work” to her. Lying doesn’t feel good, but the way Brigette asked about Juno and me being close