“Good. Now relax and finish your story.”

“Right. So where we left off... I was arguing with my sisters and mom about having to bring a plus-one to the wedding. Why can’t I go by myself? Then I had to explain, yet again, that I was the one who broke it off with my ex—they all think he dumped me. Fortunately, my dad and the guys joined us, talking about investing in tech companies, one of which was a gaming company. And I went off about how much I love Arrow Sins & Siege to throw off any attempt at matchmaking. Gamer girls aren’t cool, you know.”

“They aren’t? Who says?”

“Something I read in a magazine. Utter crap, but I figured the type of people who work with my dad likely aren’t into video games. Too sophisticated for that kind of nonsense.” She frowned.

“What?”

“Cal didn’t seem to mind. I could just feel him getting ready to make a move. It was cowardly, but I took off.” She sighed. “Mom’s been leaving me texts I’m pretending I haven’t seen.”

“You can’t avoid her forever.”

“I know.” She sipped her water, feeling glum. “But that was my dinner. Now what about yours?”

He laughed as he plated their food, and Justine helped him bring it to the small kitchen table, where they fell upon the meal like starving dogs.

“I’m sorry. But this is so good, and I was so hungry,” she said between mouthfuls.

“Me too. Benji’s burgers were killing me, they smelled so good.” After a few more bites, he said, “Dinner with Mom and Auggie was fun. Great food, and I love my family. We’re a lot more easygoing than your folks, it sounds like.”

“Congressional debates are a lot more easygoing than my parents,” she grumbled.

He laughed. “Yeah, well, even though we had a great meal, that didn’t stop my mom from giving me and Auggie ‘The Lecture.’ It’s basically her talk about how it’s just fine if we never want to get married... except it’s not really fine, and she finds all these soft, kind ways to tell us we’re disappointing her if we don’t get married and give her grandkids.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, but it’s also fun, because my mom uses the word ‘fine’ every five seconds to try to reassure us that our lifestyles are our own business. Last night, we counted twenty-two.”

She chuckled. “That’s terrible. Hmm. I wonder which word my mom uses that I could start counting. ‘Disappointed’ might work.”

They snickered over disapproving parents and teased each other about being single forever.

“But not my mom,” Xavier said. “She’s going to be dating if I have to drag her into a singles bar myself.” He frowned.

“Do you want your mom to date and get out and have a life? Or to be so busy so that she’s not bugging you?”

He pushed his plate away and sat back. “That’s a good question. The part of me that’s a good son just wants her happy. I love my mom. I want her to find someone special, to treat her the way she deserves to be treated. But the little boy in me wants her all to myself.”