Roman gave her a slow, heavy-lidded wink before turning his attention to the only other unmarried woman in the room—Michelle, one of Vlad’s neighbors. And judging by the look that passed between them, hot enough to melt mozzarella, she’d dipped her bread in his Raclette before.
Suddenly, twin girls with swinging pigtails and chocolate smears across their faces raced into the room and circled the island with high-pitched shrieks. Gavin’s wife, Thea, pressed her fingers to her temples. “Where are the guys? I asked Gavin to watch them.”
“I don’t know,” said Nessa, Del’s wife. She shifted her two-year-old son from one hip to the next. “What are they even doing up there?”
“Wait,” Gretchen said, looking around. “I’m not the only one who doesn’t know what the surprise is?”
“What surprise?” asked Tracy, Malcolm’s wife. She cradled a small baby bump beneath her red sweater.
“I know what it is,” Elena crooned.
Liv reached down with both arms and caught her nieces, one in each arm. “Go back in the living room,” she told them. “I’ll sneak you some more candy later.”
As the girls ran off, Thea gave her sister a withering look. “Thanks.”
Liv ignored her, plopped down in the empty seat next to Gretchen’s, and leaned her elbows on the counter. Her pointed look said that the reprieve from girl talk was about to end.
Gretchen sighed and cradled her glass of wine. “Okay,” she said. “Fire away.”
The questions began all at once. How many times had they gone out? Were they officially dating, or were they still pretending it was some kind of business deal? Whose idea was it to come to the party together? Were they going to spend Christmas together?
“Whoa, let her breathe,” Alexis said. Then she squeezed Gretchen’s shoulder. “Sorry. We’re all just really happy for you. Both of you.”
“Thank you.” Alexis’s sincerity sparked a wave of guilt, and Gretchen felt she owed them an explanation. “It’s just that this is all really new.”
“Not for him, it isn’t,” Liv said. “He’s been pining for you for over a year.”
Gretchen would’ve argued the point if Colton’s words weren’t still fresh in her mind. You’re the last person I was with . . . I can’t believe you’re actually here. Gretchen was still struggling to believe it too. Or maybe she didn’t want to believe it.
Maybe she was afraid to.
And wow, okay, there was another unwelcome observation.
She must have winced or something because Alexis squeezed her arm again and changed the subject. “So, Thea. What’re you getting the twins for Christmas?”
Gretchen shot Alexis a grateful smile as Thea launched into a lament about some hard-to-get doll the girls wanted. “We can’t find them anywhere,” Thea said, sipping her wine. “Sold out online. Sold out in stores. I hate to disappoint them, but I’m running out of time.”
Nessa made a sympathetic noise. “Del asked for the new PlayStation. Can’t find it anywhere.”
“I managed to get the last one before they sold out online,” Liv said. “Mack’s going to scream like a little girl when he opens it.”
Nessa laughed. “You realize that means the boys will be at your house every night, right?”
Liv groaned. “Never mind. I’m sending it back.”
The women all suddenly shut up.
“Why do I feel like we’re being talked about, boys?”
Gretchen turned in her chair to find Mack, Malcolm, Del, Gavin, and Noah strolling into the kitchen. Bringing up the rear was Colton. A weird fluttering tickled her insides from her stomach to her chest at the sight of him. But it was Mack who approached her.
Heat once again rose on her neck. Her fling with him had been brief, barely a blip on the relationship radar. But she’d dumped him on a sidewalk outside a restaurant the same night he’d met Liv, and if she’d known then that she would eventually become friends with Liv and some of these other women, she would’ve been a bit more delicate with her words that night. Even with Mack and Liv now married, she still squirmed around him.
Mack bent down to brush his lips across her cheek. “Good to see you, Gretchen,” he said. Then, he straightened and turned toward Colton with a grin that spelled trouble. “Let us know if he does anything we need to kick his ass for.”
“Hey,” Colton said in mock offense. “Whose side are you on?”