Piece of My Heart (Fostering Love 4)

“Oh,” I murmured in surprise.

“I had no idea what an asshole Sean was before their party,” Alex said. “But I don’t usually make a habit of hanging out with douchebags. It’s not really my thing.”

“Right,” I murmured, thinking back to the way he’d handled the man who’d groped me at Hailey’s party.

We pulled up to the house a few minutes later, and as soon as Alex turned off the truck, I reached for my door handle, but I didn’t get very far, because Alex was pulling my hand in the opposite direction.

“Hey,” he said quietly, smiling at me. “Come here.”

I leaned toward him and let out a small sigh as his free hand brushed my hair away from my face.

“I’ve missed you,” he said against my lips.

The kiss was short, but it held the same impact as the last one we’d shared at my house. I wouldn’t have been surprised if little cartoon hearts had floated out of my ears and fluttered around my head as soon as he pulled his lips from mine.

“I missed you, too,” I replied, leaning forward to brush my lips against his again. “Why don’t we skip this, and we can go back to my apartment—”

My words were cut off by his groan, and I laughed.

“Unfair,” he said, kissing me hard and fast before pulling away completely. “But I hope you know as soon as we’re done eating, I’m throwing you over my shoulder, and we’re going back to your place.”

I grinned as he climbed out of the truck.

“You’re here,” Hailey called as we walked toward her front door. She was standing there in an apron. I tried really hard not to laugh.

“We’re here,” I called back as we made our way toward her. “Feed me—I’m starving!”

“Oh, shit.” She gave me a mock worried look. “You probably should’ve eaten before you got here.”

“Hey, guys,” Sean said, walking out of the bedroom. His hair was kind of ruffled, like he’d just woken up.

“Thanks for having us over,” Alex said, reaching forward to give Sean a fist bump.

“Hey, Sarai,” Sean said, giving me a nod.

“So,” Hailey said, bouncing a little on the tips of her toes. “I made spaghetti. I hope that’s okay with everyone?”

“Sounds good,” I replied, smiling genuinely at Hailey.

We sat down at the table and let Hailey serve us, because she really wanted to do it all herself. I gave Alex a small, grateful look when he sat between me and Sean. I was actually pretty impressed when Hailey started putting out the bowls of food. Everything looked great, and she’d put it all in decorative dishes that made the table look festive. It was a far cry from the night of the party, when frozen snack food had covered every surface in her kitchen.

We’d been there for only a few minutes, but by the time Hailey sat down, I’d relaxed a little.

It all went to shit when we started eating.

“What did you put in this?” Sean asked Hailey quietly. It wasn’t his tone or the inflection of his voice that immediately got my attention. It was the way Hailey stiffened, her smile turning slightly panicked.

“Ground beef,” she said softly. “And the sauce you brought home.”

“I brought home onions and garlic, too.”

“Those are in there,” Hailey said, nodding. Her shoulders seemed to relax for just a second.

“And sausage,” he said.

“I didn’t use the sausage,” she said. She glanced at me and Alex, giving a slight shrug.

“The sausage was for the spaghetti,” Sean said, as if he were speaking to a child.

“I didn’t use it this time,” she said simply. She reached for a piece of garlic bread and set it down deliberately on her plate.

“Jesus,” Sean said, sighing and looking at us, like he couldn’t believe what he was dealing with.

“It’s good,” Hailey said brightly. “I tried it.” She looked at me, giving me a small smile. “Totally nailed it, actually.”

I smiled back, but every muscle in my body was tense. I knew why she hadn’t added sausage—because I didn’t eat pork—but for some reason she was trying to hide that from Sean. Was she trying to shield me or something? The thought made nausea pool in my stomach.

“It would have been better with the sausage,” Sean complained, making Hailey’s smile disappear.

I tried really hard to keep my mouth shut. I’d been doing it for months, keeping my opinion to myself. But watching the smile fall off Hailey’s face when I knew how proud she was of dinner made me snap.

“She didn’t put fucking sausage in it because I’m Jewish,” I ground out, staring at Sean. Alex’s hand tightened on my leg in solidarity or warning—I wasn’t sure which. “I don’t eat pork.”

The table went so silent, you could have heard a pin drop.

“Whoa,” Sean finally said, raising his hands in the air in mock surrender. “Cease fire.” He laughed as if it were all a big joke. “I had no idea you were Jewish.”