“We’re talking about how all the couples in this group seem to be nesting,” Lexie said with a laugh. “Patrick and I are looking for a house, Liam and Hilary are looking for a house, Andrew and Kate are looking for a house, –“ strangely, Jake scowled suddenly, “and I think Rick’s going to propose to Maria soon. It’s making me feel old!”

“Which should make the rest of us feel really old,” Chris said laughing. Lexie stuck out her tongue at him.

“I just bought some stuff for my apartment,” Michael said. “Does that mean I’m nesting too?”

Ellie gave him a sidelong look.

“What’d you get?” Lexie asked, looking interested.

“Just some small furniture pieces, tables, and some decorative stuff. Someone told me it looked like my apartment had recently been robbed, so I figured I’d better make it look a little homier.”

“Sounds like nesting to me,” Olivia said with a chuckle as Ellie blushed. Michael squeezed her hand. The way she was looking at him was almost awe-struck, as if she was amazed her words had had a real effect on him.

She’d learn. Everything she did had an effect on him.

“It’s not nesting,” Patrick said, his tone one of a long-suffering man. “Buying a house is just the natural next step.”

“Actually, I’m pretty sure most people consider the next natural step to be marriage, but our group seems to do it backwards,” Chris said. “Liam and Hilary are the only ones doing it right so far.”

“It’s not backwards, it’s just modern,” Olivia said. “We do what we want!”

“Exactly!” said Lexie. “I do what I want! It’s the one thing I’m really good at.”

Patrick’s smile was amused. “It’s not the one thing.”

Jake immediately pointed a finger at his best friend. “I don’t want to know the other things.”

His sister batted at his finger. “Get over it. It’s just sex.”

“Oh, so you’d be totally okay with hearing about my sex life?”

“If you were doing anything interesting with it.”

“Okay children,” Olivia said, interrupting the siblings. She waved her hand at the space between them, making a slicing motion. “That’s enough of that. I’m not particularly interested in hearing about either of your sex lives.”

“Yes, mom,” Lexie and Jake chorused together before catching each other’s eyes and cracking up.

Shaking his head, Michael leaned closer to Ellie, just enjoying being in the company of their friends. While he tended to think of himself as an extrovert, their friends were fairly loud. He’d noticed Ellie had a tendency to just sit back and enjoy the floor show rather than trying to join in.