something?” Kinsley asks.
“No, Cole was just about to go get something for all his bug bites,” I say and a streak of pink crawls up Kinsley’s neck as Cole shoves me. I burst out laughing as he makes his way to the cooler to grab another beer.
“Everything okay?” Kinsley asks.
“Fine. We were just having a discussion.”
“Seemed serious.” She glances over her shoulder. “Is he still giving you a hard time?”
“Yeah.”
She makes a fist and slams it into her palm. “Want me to take care of that? I’m tougher than I look.”
The tightness in my neck releases and I grab her, pull her to me until she’s sitting on my lap. “So tough,” I say and kiss her. One of the kids at the table makes an “eww” sound and we break apart. “Rain check?” I ask as she stands. Before she steps away, I tug her to me again. “You went through a lot of trouble preparing all this food today. That was really nice of you.”
“Shh,” she says and glances over her shoulder. “I’m a badass, remember. Look at me with all these piercings. Don’t say that too loud, I have a reputation to uphold.”
“You’re anything but a bad ass, although you do have a hell of an ass.”
She chuckles. “A rebel?”
“You might seem like a rebel to your family, Kins,” I say, going serious. Jesus, I’m still pissed at the way they treated her, dismissed what’s important to her. I wish to hell she didn’t have to take the money left by her grandfather. He would have wanted her to have it, yes, but in no way do I want her to feel indebted to her family—or to me. I want to do this for her, but she seems hell bent on doing it herself. “Everyone here adores you, even Daisy. You’re an inspiration and a good example.”
The smile she gives me wraps around my heart and squeezes tight. “You’re sweet.”
“Hush,” I say and give her a whack on the ass. I glance over her shoulder. “I’m starving.”
“Our pizzas are coming right out.”
“Let me help you.”
We head inside and the fresh scent of bread fills my senses. She pulls trays from the oven, and I shake my head. “Your restaurant is going to be a huge hit.”
“Thank you.” She gestures with a nod. “Grab the cutter and we’ll slice these up.”
We cut up the slices and carry them out. As the children eat at one picnic table, we all take the other.
“Kins, as much as I said you didn’t need to cook for us, I’m sure glad you did,” Katee says biting into the flatbread. “This is so good.”
I put my hand on her thigh under the table and give it a squeeze.
“Since you spent all day making us food,” I tell her. “I’ll let you off the hook tonight. We don’t have to take the boys.”
“But I was looking forward to it. I have something very special planned,” Kinsley says, and I eye her.
“Yeah?” I ask. “What is it?”
“It’s kind of a surprise for you, too,” she says softly as I refill her wine.
“Um, excuse me,” Nina says holding out her glass. “Now that you have Kinsley, your sister doesn’t matter?” she says with a smirk.
I reluctantly tear my gaze away and grumble as I fill my annoying sister’s glass. Kinsley turns to Alyssa. “Sorry about all this,” she says. “I didn’t realize you’d be catching so many fish for us all.”
A round of groans go around the table as Alyssa laughs. “What?” Kinsley’s gaze goes around the table to take in my friends and family. “Was it something I said?” she asks so innocently, I’m not even sure she’s teasing. “Oh, wait, I get it,” she says. “You all think I’m pointing out that Alyssa caught all the fish, and you guys came home pathetically empty-handed.”
I nudge her and she turns my way, a grin on her face. “Nice one,” I say.
“We can do a fish fry tomorrow afternoon before we go back,” Alyssa says.
“You guys want me to cook them?” She laughs when a round of yesses go around the table. “Is that a yes?” she asks, and I love how comfortable she is with us all, how easily she fits in. That’s because she belongs here.
She belongs with me.
We all dig into our food and I savor the flavors. She arches a brow, like my opinion is important to her. “It’s delicious, Kins. Best I’ve ever had.”
“You’re just saying that,” she says and whacks