“Like you were?” he asked, lips quirking.
I rolled my eyes. “Worse, if you can believe that.”
“You seem to be doing a good job with them. They listen to you.”
I frowned. “How would you know that?”
“Robert said Jeremy told him—” His eyes widened. “Um. Never mind. Let’s talk about something else. I should go see if they still have mahjong. Teach you how to play. It’s not hard to learn.” He started to get up.
“Charlie,” I said sweetly. “Sit your ass down.”
He groaned but did as I asked. He glared at me, and the expression would have been frightening to anyone who didn’t know him, and possibly to most of the people who did. It didn’t affect me in the slightest, because Charlie was family and I could see right through the roughness.
“Are we done talking about feelings and happy things?” I asked innocently.
“We don’t have to be,” he said. “Have I told you how beautiful you look today?”
I snorted. I was wearing an oversized shirt I’d found in the laundry basket—probably one of Darren’s. I had on shorts and flip-flops, and my hair was pulled back in a bandana. I’d been wearing the same thing all day. Yes, I probably did look beautiful, but only to a certain individual trying to distract me. “Thank you. I also see right through you.”
He sighed. “Dammit. All right. Let me have it.”
I sat forward, putting my elbows on the table and resting my chin on my hands. “How is Robert doing?”
He eyed me warily. “Fine.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“Everything good there?”
“Just grand,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Do you take strolls through the park holding hands?” Uh-oh. I was getting distracted. “Oh my god, do you? Tell me you do and when you do it! I need to be there to take pictures!”
“We don’t stroll through the park,” he retorted. “It’s too hot for that.”
I squinted at him. “Then where do you stroll together holding hands?”
His eyes shifted side to side. “Well… there’s… you see, it’s not like—”
I gaped at him. “Please tell me it’s at the mall before the stores open like all the other old people do in order to get their steps in.”
“Only two days a week,” he snapped. “And when we finish, we get smoothies.”
I barely kept from screaming. “Jesus Christ,” I hissed at him. “Do you have any fucking idea how goddamn adorable that is?”
“And you don’t tell another soul about it,” he said. “I swear if I find out you’ve told Sandy or Paul, I will put you over my knee so fast.”
I waved him away. “Promises, promises.” I grinned evilly at him. “Do you threaten Robert the same way?”
“Where are those goddamn tater tots?” he snarled, looking around for the waitress. “You know what? Forget it. We’re leaving.”
“We are most certainly not. We’re going to stay right here, and you’re going to tell me about how in love you are and that you’ve never been happier and—hold up.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You were trying to distract me!”
He scoffed. “You’d be surprised how easy that is with all of you. I barely have to lift a finger.”
“Rude. But most likely true. But that’s a problem to be addressed another day. We have more important things to focus on at the moment. We’re going to—”