“She’s five,” I teased, knowing full well that he meant Claire.

“Smart-ass,” he quipped but rolled out of bed. “Wear whatever you want if you don’t feel like wearing yesterday’s clothes,” he told me after he yanked some shorts up over his boxer briefs and tugged a T-shirt over the carved lines I’d had yet to play with.

We really needed to remedy that soon.

“Get out of here,” I chastised, still sitting in the middle of his bed.

He flashed a grin at me and vanished through the doorway.

I’d barely set my feet on the ground when I heard him bellow, “She’s my girlfriend!”

Guess we were labeled now, huh?

I walked into his closet and marveled at the neat, organized rows he kept his clothes in. The man might be laid back in some departments, but apparently he liked his stuff tidy. I selected a soft T-shirt and settled for yesterday’s shorts. I could tie the shirt, but there was no way anything of Jackson’s was going to remotely fit my bottom.

Once I was appropriately dressed and had popped my head in to see Fin lost in her seashell collection, I headed downstairs and found Jackson trying his darndest to get Claire out the door while my friends pretended not to hear anything from where they sat around his dining room table.

I wasn’t sure if I should kick them out or laugh at how awkward it all was.

“I’ll be right in. And don’t be mad at me. They looked like little lost puppies,” Jackson explained from the doorway. “I couldn’t leave them out in the rain.”

“Uh-huh.” I shook my head at him. “It’s lovely to see you again, Claire.”

She muttered something before Jackson closed the door, sealing them outside.

Sam was the only one to approach me as I made two cups of coffee, searched for Jackson’s creamer, only to realize he didn’t have any, and settled for milk, which was not the same.

“Give them a chance,” she said quietly as I stirred in my sugar.

My stomach twisted, unwilling to face the can of worms I’d opened yesterday. But I was the one who’d lost my temper, which meant I owed them their say, too.

“Okay,” I finally answered.

She let out a breath of relief and walked to the table with me.

I took the vacant seat at the foot of the table, and Sam slid into the empty one on my right. Paisley sat to my left with Jagger, who had Peyton on his lap. Josh took the head of the table, Ember to his left, next to Sam. Each one of them looked at me with resignation and a touch of fear.

I was hit with an immediate longing for Grayson, who was the most even-tempered of us all.