Body and Soul (Twist of Fate 3)

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, straightening up to look at him.

I shouldn’t have.

His eyes were a stunning blue, set off magically by the navy sweater he was wearing. His hair had some kind of product in it, holding a fauxhawk style I hadn’t seen on him before. It was hot as hell. I also caught a whiff of cologne that went straight to my cock.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and barely noticed everyone else taking their seats.

“It means she’s punishing you for blowing me off earlier,” he said with a sniff. As if he didn’t care I’d done that.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY, DEAR?”

I looked across the table at Wanda. Was she asking me?

“HE SAID JAKE BLEW HIM, MOTHER,” Steve said with a devious wink at Lolly.

Complete silence. I took a sip from my water glass to cover my mortification.

“I wish,” Oz mumbled politely into his cloth napkin.

I spit the water across the table.

“OH DEAR,” Wanda said, clutching at invisible pearls. “THAT’S… THAT’S PERSONAL INFORMATION, STEVEN. NOT FIT FOR DINNER CONVERSATION.”

“OFF!” I barked. Both dogs went scrambling for the door with their tails between their legs. “Oh god. I BLEW HIM OFF, MA’AM,” I corrected. “I BLEW HIM OFF.”

Oz’s jaw dropped open, and Bennett almost spilled the mashed potatoes.

Lucky just stared between me and the older deaf woman. I could see his fingers itching to pick up his phone, probably so he could record the scene. Just to be sure he didn’t, I narrowed my eyes at him.

“This is a nightmare,” I murmured.

“That’ll teach you to be an ass,” Oz snapped.

“WHAT WAS THAT?” Wanda asked again.

“HE’S AN ASS, MAMA. OZ SAID JAKE IS AN ASS.”

I looked around the table. This wasn’t happening.

Wanda shot me evil eyes. “WELL, THAT’S A SHAME. OZ IS A NICE BOY. HE TOOK ME TO BED EARLIER, DIDN’T YOU, SWEETIE?”

“YES, MA’AM,” Oz replied with a giant smile. “YOU NEEDED SOME BEAUTY REST, AND IT WORKED. YOU’RE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE ROOM.”

He seemed to realize there was one other woman he’d overlooked.

“SORRY, LOLLY. YOU’RE ALSO GORGEOUS.”

Wrinkly Steve reached for Lolly’s hand and beamed at her. “My two lovely ladies.”

At that point Keith wandered in with a bottle of wine in each hand. “Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Sorry I’m late. I had to drop my brother off at work. Apparently, the college kids don’t take a break from their beer nights for Thanksgiving. What’d I miss?”

Most people around the table were laughing too hard to answer.

“Hi, Keith,” Oz said with an overly familiar smile, leaning forward to greet the man as if I wasn’t sitting between them. “I didn’t know you were coming today. How wonderful to see you again so soon.”

“You two know each other?” I growled.

“ARE ALL OF THESE MEN HOMOSEXUALS? NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT.”

“MOM!” Steve shouted with embarrassment. “YOU DON’T ASSUME SOMEONE IS GAY. Everyone, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Oz said, still laughing. “WANDA, IT’S OKAY. I AM GAY AND ALREADY HAVE A DATE WITH KEITH, SO IT’S FINE TO ASSUME WITH THE TWO OF US. JAKE ISN’T, THOUGH.”

I choked on nothing, Keith stared at me in surprise, and Lucky finally pulled his phone out to start recording.

Xander snorted, immediately held his hand out for Lucky’s phone, and reached out with his other hand for his fiancé. Bennett set down the dish of potatoes and buried his face in Xander’s neck to keep from collapsing from laughter.

“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Bennett gasped. “Is it my birthday?”

My face was surely crimson as I began filling my plate with whatever I could get my hands on.

“Wow, Jake. You’re a tough nut to crack. I could have sworn you were on my team,” Keith said with a wink in my direction.

“Careful, Keith,” Oz cut in. “He’s slightly homophobic and doesn’t appreciate being mistaken for one of us.”

Keith stared at me while I stared at Oz. “That’s not true,” I said through my teeth. “Can we talk about this another time, please? Like maybe not in front of all of these people?”

“No need. We’ve already said all we need to say, anyway,” Oz snapped. “You’ve made your opinions about everything very clear.”

The way he said the word “everything” made it sound like he was referring to himself.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Oz. I just…” What I should have said was nothing, but that’s not what came out of my mouth. “How did you get here? Your car was still at the cabin when I left.”

“I got a ride.”

“Oh.” There went my teeth again, clamping against each other like a vise. “Did you tell Keith about Russ?”

Okay, now I was officially going off the deep end.

Oz tilted his head at me. “What about Russ?”

“That you’re sleeping with him,” I hissed under my breath so only he could hear me.