“So she’s staying with you and Aidan now?” Shelby raised her coffee to her lips, her blue eyes watching him over the rim of her mug.
“Yeah, for a few days,” he said.
“That was cool of you, rescuing her like that,” Cash told him. The dark-haired SEAL reached for the plate of banana muffins Shelby had brought out, grabbed one, and proceeded to shove the whole thing into his mouth.
“Such manners,” Jackson remarked in that southern drawl of his. “Jen must be so proud of you.”
“Trust me, Jen has no complaints about the way I eat.” Cash’s blue eyes twinkled. “Food, of course. The way I eat food.”
“What I want to know,” Seth said, “is whether you and Aidan have—cover your ears, Shelby—fucked her yet.”
The blonde rolled her eyes. “God, you are such a sleaze.”
Seth blinked innocently. “Hey, I was just voicing what everyone else was thinking.”
“Uh, I wasn’t thinking that at all,” Ryan spoke up.
“Me neither,” Cash piped up.
“Didn’t even cross my mind,” Jackson confessed.
“Oh, come on, you were too. I mean, you all met her when she came to visit, right? She’s a stone-cold fox.”
“Claire and my brother were just here for a night,” Dylan reminded his former roommate. “You were the only one who met her.”
“Ah, right. Well, shit, you guys missed out.” Seth offered the other men his trademark scoundrel smirk. “She’s sexy as hell—great tits, curves in all the right places. Oh, and she’s a redhead. Every redhead I’ve ever—cover your ears, Shelby—fucked has been phenomenal in bed.”
This time the eye-roll came from Ryan. “Dude, do you kiss your wife with that mouth?”
“Yup, and she loves it.”
Dylan didn’t doubt that; Miranda Breslin—well, Masterson now—seemed to have no problem with her new husband’s rough edges.
Man, it was still hard to believe Seth was married now. Much to everyone’s surprise, he and Miranda had eloped to Vegas last month, and Seth had recently confided in Dylan that he was going through the process to adopt Miranda’s six-year-old twins. After a shaky start with Miranda and a tenuous relationship with her kids, Seth now worshipped the ground all three of them walked on.
Seeing his buddy so happy never failed to bring a rush of longing to Dylan’s heart. In fact, as he looked around the table, he realized that he and Jackson were the only single ones there. Shelby was happily married and raising a three-year-old daughter. Seth and Miranda had tied the knot and were doing the whole family thing too. Ryan and his girlfriend, Annabelle, had recently gotten engaged, Cash and Jen would surely follow suit. And who could forget all the other married couples in their circle, all blissfully happy.
And then there was Dylan. Living with Aidan, yet he hadn’t told any of his buddies about the sexual nature of that arrangement. The only person who knew was Jen Scott, Cash’s girlfriend and Dylan’s closest female friend. He’d asked Jen not to say anything to Cash, but it wasn’t shame or fear that was stopping him from telling other people. Like he’d told Aidan, he had no clue how to classify what they had, and until he could make sense of it himself, he didn’t want to deal with all the questions he knew he’d receive.
“Anyway, speaking of Miranda,” Seth was saying, “she wanted to know if you’re all planning on coming to our place for Christmas Eve dinner. My mom’s flying in from Vegas on the twenty-fifth, so we’re doing Christmas Day with her.”
“Annabelle and I will be in San Francisco that week,” Ryan said. “Seven whole days with the snooty Holmes clan. Can’t f**king wait.”
Shelby glanced over in sympathy. “They still haven’t warmed up to you? Even after, what? Three years?”
“Naah, they’ve gotten a lot better. Her dad has stopped trying to bribe me into dumping her, so that’s progress. And I think he was secretly happy and impressed when I flew up there to ask for his blessing to marry her.”
“And he gave it to you,” Shelby pointed out, “so I guess that is progress.”
On the other side of the table, Seth reached over the muffin plate and nonchalantly stole Dylan’s coffee from right under his nose.
Scratch that—not nonchalantly at all.
“Seriously?” Dylan sighed. “You’re that lazy? Stealing my coffee instead of walking ten feet to the counter and getting a fresh cup?”
“That lazy,” Seth confirmed. “Anyway. So Ryan’s out. Texas?”
Jackson nodded. “I’ll be there.”
“John and I won’t,” Shelby chimed in, sounding apologetic. “We’ll be at my parents’ place that night, and his family’s the next night.”
“McCoy? You and the Scotts?”
“Yeah, we’re all coming,” Cash answered.
“So that leaves the D-Man. You coming or what, bro? Oh, and Miranda says Aidan’s welcome too.”
Dylan raised his eyebrows. “The D-Man?”
“New nickname I’m trying out.” Seth paused. “Is it not working?”
“No,” everyone answered in unison.
“Fine. I’ll think of something else.”
Dylan snorted. “Please don’t. You’re terrible at giving people nicknames.”
“Fuck you. I rock at it,” Seth retorted. “Who gave Texas his nickname, huh?”