Chapter Thirteen
Naomi sat at the table, wondering if she or Stone would get a word in. When she’d gone back to change, her sisters asked where she was going. Suddenly, it wasn’t just her, Stone, and the girls. It was Stone with five women and six girls.
Luckily, they’d all paused long enough to order, but there were at least three different conversations going on.
“At least someone invited us since our own brother didn’t,” Emerson scoffed as she plopped down at their table, followed by Harriet, his youngest sister, who had everyone call her Harry.
“To be fair, I invited the girls and Naomi to breakfast, and it spawned from there,” Stone defended, sipping his coffee.
“Spawned? Did he just compare us to salmon?” Tori gasped.
“Chill. He was just commenting on how his relatively quiet breakfast exploded when we all invited ourselves along,” AJ said.
Naomi bit her lip, waiting to see Tori’s response. AJ’s peacemaking between the sisters was a toss-up as to whether it would work or cause a bigger explosion.
“All right, but he’s buying breakfast,” Tori relented, glaring at Stone.
“I would love to buy breakfast for all of you,” Stone reassured her.
Naomi fucking hated continuing to compare Stone to Jared, but this interaction said everything. Stone had no problem going toe-to-toe with her sisters, but he also wasn’t mean about it. Jared would have resorted to name-calling or grabbing her hand and making her leave.
“Let’s get down to business, though. We,” Phoebe said, pointing to herself and her friends, “had no idea that Stone had an outdoor swinging bed on the side of his house. It seems like a great place for us to have a sleepover.”
Naomi had to admit it was a fantastic place for a sleepover. She only wished she would have woken in Stone’s arms.
“Stone has an outdoor swinging bed?” Tori asked.
“Yes, it’s where we found Mom and Stone this morning asleep, Aunt Tori,” Regan said.
“His arm was wrapped around her,” Taylor added.
“And his face was close to her head,” Beck confirmed, nodding.
Naomi felt her face getting warm, even though she had nothing to be ashamed of.
“Were they naked or dressed?” Chloe teased, smirking across the table.
“Chloe,” Naomi chided. “Appropriate language around kids, please.”
Stone chuckled, then covered his mouth.
“Food’s ready,” Slice announced as he and Bear brought out the plates.
Thank goodness. Maybe the food would have her sisters shutting up and eating.
“Anybody need anything else?” Bear checked after everyone had food.
“I think we’re good, Bear. All on one tab for me,” Stone said.
Naomi took a bite of bacon while she listened to the sounds of people eating instead of her sisters or children embarrassing her.
Naomi hadn’t realized how hungry she was until her bacon, scrambled eggs, and hash browns were in front of her.
She tucked into her food, wiping her mouth when she was done.
Stone had ordered a larger meal and was still eating. He paused.
“If you’re still hungry, we can order you more, or I have plenty of bacon, sausages, and biscuits I can share,” he offered.
She hadn’t tried the sausages yet. Stone had ones that were flat and round for the biscuits but also the ones that looked like little hot dogs.
“Have you tried the sausages since you came? They are good, but I’ll admit they’re a treat dipped in syrup,” he suggested.
“I don’t want to take your food,” she protested softly.
He lifted his plate closer to hers and moved three of the four sausages onto her plate. Picking up one of the small condiment bowls on the table, he poured her syrup to dip her sausages in. He nodded his head, telling her to try it.
She looked at her fork and then looked around. It was fifty-fifty. Half the people were picking up the sausage and dipping it in the syrup with their hands, and the others were using a fork.
When she didn’t immediately do either, Stone reached over, picked up a sausage, dipped it in the syrup, and held it up to her mouth, cocking his eyebrow. Why did him offering to feed her send thoughts through her brain that had no business being there with her daughters at the table?
She leaned closer and took a bite. The burst of spices from the sausage and the sweetness of the syrup had her humming in delight.
“Oh, that’s really good,” she mumbled softly.
Stone nodded and handed the rest of the sausage to her. The silence of the table registered, and she turned to see what was going on. She’d been in her own little world with Stone.
“Stone shared food with someone,” Emerson marveled.
“I know, and he smiled. Do you think he has a virus?” Harry teased.
“How about you two eat more and talk less? I know you have early appointments today,” Stone grumbled.
His sisters giggled, sticking out their tongues, then got back to eating.
Did Stone really not share food? She wondered if that was a habit because of being in prison.
“Thanks for sharing. I will be ordering sausage next time,” she smiled.
He nodded and continued eating.
“Don’t be thinking that feeding us is going to make me forget about your outside swinging bed,” Phoebe warned.
“I don’t expect you to. If you girls want to have a sleepover out there, it’s fine with me, but I’ll need Naomi there to help supervise,” Stone said.
“Got it. Because it wouldn’t be appropriate for it to be just you since you’re not a dad to any of us or a Papa,” Phoebe acknowledged.
“When will it be? Because I don’t want to miss it, and we have a weekend we have to spend with Dad,” Taylor worried.
“Mom, were you able to get Dad to change weekends so we don’t miss the commemoration weekend and all the fun?” Regan pressed.
“I’m still trying,” Naomi sighed, trying to keep her voice steady. She did not want to have her girls left alone with him under any circumstances, and she hoped they could figure a way out of it.
“I don’t want to go ever,” Beck said softly.
“Well, that seems like something we could work on. How about you let all us adults figure it out? You let me worry about it, and you don’t need to. If it becomes a problem, then your mom can tell you when it’s your turn to worry,” Tori comforted.
“Thanks, Aunt Tori. I can try,” Beck relaxed.
“If everyone is done, I know some people need to get to work, but would you girls like to go to Broken Hearts Brewing? I’ll buy everyone a book and a snack to take home with you. I have time to do that and then get you back to the compound before I need to work,” Stone injected smoothly.
“Yay,” the girls yelled.
“Thank you,” Beck said.
“Yes, thank you,” the others called.
Naomi stared at Stone. She was newly divorced, but each minute she spent with Stone had her wondering what if. What if she put herself out there and kissed him? Or what if she maybe did more? What would his response be?