“Hey, Minnie, do you think you can order us some pizza or something—”

“I’ll take care of it,” Tommy said, pulling out his phone. The rest of the boys filed out of the kitchen onto the side porch, unbuttoning their shirts as they went. He lingered, staring at his phone. “Who delivers here again?”

“Don’t worry about it, Tommy. I’ll take care of it,” I said.

He looked up from his phone and frowned. “You didn’t hear anything I said to you this afternoon, did you?”

“I don’t see what that has to do with—”

“I said I’d take care of you this weekend, remember?” Before I could react, he swept me up into his strong arms and pressed his firm body against mine. “I promised I’d keep your glass full, spin you around on the dance floor…” He swung me out and twirled me around to demonstrate, and a sound came out of me. A delighted snorting laugh that I hadn’t made in years. “…and make sure that smile stays on your face.”

He leaned in a little too close. And when he leaned in… I felt myself leaning, too.

“Ahem!” Minerva coughed loudly, startling us apart like teenagers caught dancing pelvis to pelvis at the school dance.

Tommy glanced at her, a slightly annoyed look on his face. “I forgot you were even standing there.”

“It happens,” Minerva said with a shrug.

He handed me his phone with the food delivery app open. “Just order from the nearest pizza spot. I’ll pay for it,” he said, backing away slowly. “And we’ll finish that dance later, won’t we?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Tommy, if you don’t get your drunk ass out of my kitchen!”

“Is that a yes, or…”

I grabbed a wooden spatula from the container by the stove, and I swear, all of his playfulness fell away when I stepped in close, wielding it like I was going to whack him on the ass.

“Watch out… I might actually like that,” he said, then bit his bottom lip in that seductive way pretty men did when they were thinking about kissing the fuck out of a woman.

“Sir! That was not an invitation. Get out there with your little friends. I’ll order the pizza,” I said, trying to keep it playful, but my voice was shaky, and when he dragged his gaze down my body, I felt it like it was his hand.

“Okay, I’ll go play,” he said with a smirk, then turned and walked out of the back door.

“And stay away from those wedding decorations. If I wake up to vomit on my lawn—”

“Come on, Darcy,” he said, his smirk stretching into a full-on mischievous smile. “We’re not a bunch of drunken college kids anymore. We can hold our liquor.”