Bryan reached down and scratched Dags behind his ear. “Hello, Dagger.”
“All right, ladies, who’s hungry?” I smelled food. Dylan had been cooking a lot; she claimed we ate out too much. Fast food was a no-no these days. I ushered my insanely hot best friend and my cute-as-a-button maybe-daughter toward the kitchen. They both seemed so hesitant that I refused to let my fear show. They needed me to be strong? I was sure as hell going to give it a shot. Huh, look at that. Maybe I wasn’t going to be such a shitty father after all. “What’s for dinner?”
Dylan was at the stove, stirring something in a large stainless steel pot. “Well, I wasn’t sure what kind of food Landry liked. So I went with spaghetti, because everyone likes—”
Her words cut off when she turned and saw the three of us standing on the other side of the bar.
“Bryan? Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?!” She dropped the wooden spoon and rushed up to her sister, pulling her into a big hug. “I didn’t know you were coming to see me! What a great surprise. Is Mikah with you too?” Dylan released her and then looked over her shoulder back toward the front of the house.
Bryan took a deep breath and shook her head. “Uh. No, it’s just me.”
“You had your last exam this morning, right? I can’t believe you are a college graduate now!” Dylan took her by the hand and pulled out a chair at the large center island. “Dinner is almost ready. Let me get you a glass of wine.” Bryan nodded. “I would love that, thanks.” She looked over at me and shrugged.
I guess for the time being we were going to let Dylan think that Bryan flew down here to see her and celebrate her upcoming graduation. Easy way out sounded okay to me. At least until after we ate. I was starving, and Dylan wasn’t above using food as punishment. “Where is everyone else?” The house was oddly quiet this close to dinnertime.
Dylan set a glass of white wine in front of Bryan. “Oh they’ll all be here in a minute. Smith and Dash are still down in the studio, Lexi is napping and Luke literally just woke up and got in the shower.”
I glanced down at Landry. She was quietly petting Dagger. I tapped her on the top of the head. “You like spaghetti?”
She nodded. Good. One potential problem solved.
Dylan pulled out a carton of milk and poured a glass for Landry before handing it to her. “Landry, Bryan is my baby sister.”
Landry pursed her lips. “And Jacks’s best friend.”
Bryan choked on her wine and Dylan looked confused. “What?”
Well, shit. “Hey, Dagger accidentally rolls around in his own poop sometimes. You should go wash your hands before dinner. Do you remember where the bathroom is?” Landry looked between me and Dylan. She looked like she wanted to say something but instead she nodded and then walked off with Dags trailing behind her. Bam! Another father point.
Dylan turned off the fire under the sauce, which smelled perfect by the way. “What did Landry mean? You aren’t Jacks’s best friend, why would you tell her that?”
“Well, uh… You see… Jacks, you want to answer that?” Bryan took a very large gulp of her wine. My feisty little friend was a bit of a chicken when it came to her big sister.
I put my hands on B’s shoulders, pulling her back against me like it was the most natural thing in the world. Which made Dylan narrow her eyes into tiny little slits. “Bryan and I have been talking since we met in New Orleans.”
“Talking? Why?” Dylan took a step toward me.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. We just hit it off when we met and we’ve kept in touch.”
Dylan looked between us. “Kept in touch? So, like, you guys text every once in a while or something?”
I was hoping Bryan would jump in at that point, but instead she picked up her wine again. I gave her hair a quick tug. “We text all the time, and not a day goes by that we don’t talk on the phone. We’ve become friends.”
“So you didn’t come here to see me?” Dylan stole the glass of wine out of Bryan’s hand before she could busy herself with another sip and not answer her question. Smart. I should have done that two questions ago.
Bryan shook her head. “Jacks called me this morning and told me about Landry. He asked me to come out here.”
All at the same time Smith and Dash came upstairs and Landry, Luke, and Lexi all came downstairs. The kitchen was suddenly full of people. Smith went straight to Dylan and pulled her in for a kiss, which was when he noticed Bryan. “Hey! I didn’t know you were coming down!” He beamed at her…until he noticed my hands on her shoulders and the tension in the room. He looked at me. “Why are you touching her?”