Page 60 of The Write Choice

Katie turns, a small, disingenuous smile plastered on her face. “You’re not. They were early.”

Mac slides her gaze to Jenny, who sighs dramatically and glares at her. “Oh my god. I can be on time, you know.”

Ben snorts, and she smacks him with the back of her hand. He rubs the spot as if she hurt him, which I’m sure she did not. “Last I heard, Brody and Caleb were over the moon to have friends to play with tonight,” he informs me. I nod gratefully, then grab a soda out of the fridge.

“Not as excited as Mason was at five-thirty this morning.” Katie raises an eyebrow.

“Mmm,” Jenny hums. “You’re not going to get any sympathy from this one. He’s up at five every morning to work out.”

“I’m sorry. I misheard that. I thought you said five in the morning.” I lean forward to hear better.

Ben chuckles. “Teacher life, man.” He turns to Jenny, who is smiling at him like she can’t help it and is completely unaware she’s doing so. “We have to leave for work at seven. Day starts early. Then, with practice after school, there’s no other time for the gym if I want to hang with this one.” He loops an arm around Jenny’s shoulders, and she practically melts into him.

Katie clears her throat pointedly. I look at her, my brows pinched, but her face is blank.

“Dinner should be ready in about fifteen minutes.” Her voice is bland.

“I spoke with your architect today, Brandon,” Mac slides in to change the subject. “I think we came up with some good ideas, but we’re going to follow up sometime next week.”

Jenny groans. “I know you’re excited, but can we not talk about work, please?” She turns to Katie, an eyebrow raised mischievously. “This might be the first time I’ve seen you and Brandon together since you were here for the wedding, and everything was going to shit then.”

“For all of us,” Katie mumbles. I cough.

“So, tell us more about you.” Jenny flaps her hand back and forth. “Not about the jobs and stuff. How did you meet?”

Katie looks across the room, catching my eye. We have a silent conversation, wherein I tilt my head in deference to her. She can tell it if she wants to.

“I stole him from my friend, who had brought him to a gallery party,” she says simply.

Mac makes an offended noise. “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to tell us?”

Katie smirks at some private memory. “Let’s put it this way. You’ve heard of slow burns?”

Mac and Jenny chuckle at each other across the table. “Yeah, we’re familiar,” Jenny says.

“Well, our love was more like a wildfire.” Katie’s eyes find mine again, glinting with a passion I haven’t seen in her in a long time.

“It’s a good thing wildfires are hard to put out.” My voice is gruff and low. The room goes still for a moment, and I don’t even care that everyone’s eyes are on us.

Mac suddenly claps her hands, shaking us out of it. “Let’s choose the date before dinner. It’s tradition.”

“The jar is in my studio. I’ll grab it.” Katie shoves off the counter where she had been leaning. “Daniel, stay away from the oven.”

He raises his hands, palms out. “Why would I touch it?”

She glares at him, though there’s an element of playfulness to it as she backs through the door of her studio. She returns a minute later and plops a clear glass jar that has folded up slips of paper in it onto the counter.

“So, how does this work?” she asks the room.

“Usually, we take turns drawing out of the jar. But you all haven’t had a turn, so maybe you should do it?” Mac proposes.

Katie shrugs and meets my gaze. She takes a wooden chopstick out of a drawer and uses it to stir up the slips of paper. Then, she tilts the jar at me. “You want to do the honors?”

“Sure.” I reach my thumb and forefinger into the jar, pinch a piece of paper, and pull it out. I unfold it to find Katie’s unmistakable, curly handwriting.

And as soon as I register what’s on the paper, I devolve into a coughing fit having choked on my own saliva.

“What does it say?” Jenny pulls the slip of paper from my hand. She reads it and starts giggling, then hands it to Mac, who barks a laugh and smacks the counter. Both women look at Katie appreciatively.