ReBoot (MAC Security 4)

My head turns toward the window and I watch the sunrise, knowing that any second now Livvy will be up and about.

I’ve hardly seen her at all this last week, but tonight we have Mal and Cal coming over, and Seb and West said they’d be coming too. So we’re going to grill some steaks and make some potato salad and other food. Making Sunday night drinks into Sunday afternoon drinks.

“Lexi?”

“I’m up!” I shout back to Livvy, earning me a chuckle.

Is it bad that I’m secretly hoping Evan will come this afternoon? I mean, the likelihood that he does come is wavering in my favor—his two friends will be here, his parents—he might come, right?

I haven’t seen him since he kissed me, not that I’ve exactly been trying. It’s not like I have a cell that I can call him on or message him and he’s canceled his self-defense classes. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had canceled them before the kiss, I’d think it was because of me.

Damn, I can feel that tingle again.

“Come on, Lexi! We’ll miss all the fresh food!”

“Okay! Okay!” I shout back, pulling the covers back and slipping out of bed.

I jump in the shower, dressing in a pair of white denim jeans and a pale pink top, pairing the outfit with a pair of flip-flops.

We head out to the farmers market and the grocery store with a quick stop at a small store on Main Street when I see a dress in the window that I can’t walk by without going in and buying it.

I’ve been doing well with money, and I have almost enough saved up now for a deposit and a good few months’ rent. I know that Livvy said that I can stay with her for as long as I like, but I want to be able to get my own space. I want to be able to say that I did something for myself.

Once we’re back at the house, we make a start on all of the food, not stopping until everyone starts to arrive.

Livvy is practically bouncing around on the patio, waiting for her boyfriend, James, to get here. Only Mal and Cal have met him, and I think that part of the reason Seb and West are coming today is so that they can size him up.

Although I don’t know why: how much harm can a seventy-five-year-old man do?

“He’s here!” she shouts, walking as fast as she can to the door. My gaze turns toward Seb and West and we all silently say the same thing with our eyes.

Livvy’s laughter wraps around us all as she comes back through the kitchen and out onto the patio, her arm in the crook of James’.

“James,” she says, her eyes shining bright. “This here is Lexi. My jailbird.”

“Hi, Lexi.” He nods at me, a soft smile on his face.

“And these two rascals are my grandsons: Sebastian and West.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” He steps forward, shaking both of their hands and then stepping back to Livvy.

“And of course, you know Mal and Cal.”

“I do.” He smiles and looks back at Livvy, their gazes locked.

It’s almost too much to watch so I laugh nervously and stand. “I think I can smell the steaks.”

We all move our eyes from them and as I walk over to the grill, I feel Seb and West at my back.

“We need a background check,” West says to Seb.

“Yeah, I think we do,” Seb answers, moving his blue eyes to me. “What do you think, Lex?”

“Huh?” I point at my chest. “Me?”

Lifting up the grill, I turn the steaks over and then close it, smoke wafting around us.

“Yeah, you. You’re a part of this family, are you not?”