“Your blog is incredible,” Tori replied. “I think your focus on elevated comfort food with some fresh, healthier ingredients is genius. I’ve tried several of the ones that can be prepared in less than thirty minutes. Cooper and I loved them, and they’re so easy to make after working a long day. Sometimes I just don’t feel like spending a ton of time in the kitchen in the evening.”
I smiled at her. “Then I’ve done my job. The whole reason for that blog was to make things easier for people who are really busy or who work long hours. Keeping dinner simple and delicious is a lot cheaper than delivery. Don’t get me wrong, I love ordering from an app when I just don’t feel like cooking myself dinner, but I’ve always had to stay on a budget. I might love feeding people, but cooking for just me at dinnertime isn’t as much fun as cooking for other people, either.”
Tori shrugged. “I can understand that, but I guess I’m really lucky. I’ve never had to worry about money or a tight budget. I ate out a lot when I was working for the UN and only feeding myself. I don’t mind cooking something at home now that I’m married to a guy I can’t wait to see every evening.” She grinned as she added, “Cooking isn’t one of Cooper’s many talents, but he’s always more than happy to clean up if I make dinner.”
“I’d take that deal in a heartbeat,” I told her enthusiastically. “Doing cleanup duty is the worst part of cooking for me.”
I could easily see Cooper Montgomery trying to help Tori—even if he was a filthy rich guy with a very large corporation to run. It was obvious that he adored his wife and would want to lighten her load in any way possible because she had a busy schedule, too.
“Don’t you dare try to lift a finger once dinner is over,” Tori warned. “The guys are getting cleanup duty tonight. Taylor, Harlow, and Vanna will be here in a few minutes. They wanted to help with dinner. Okay, so maybe we’re all just going to end up drinking wine together until the guys get here. Because of you, everything is pretty much prepped and done, but our husbands don’t need to know that. If you don’t mind, we’ll let them all think we slaved over a hot stove for hours to help you.”
I laughed, loving how close all of my friends were to their spouses and how they worked as a team—most of the time.
Maybe it should feel uncomfortable for me to be the lone person at this get- together who wasn’t a billionaire, but Tori, Taylor, Harlow, and Vanna weren’t pretentious. I’d discovered that it really didn’t matter if we came from different worlds. They all had the same insecurities and issues that any other woman had.
As a member of the prestigious Durand family, Tori had been extremely wealthy before she’d met Cooper Montgomery. But she’d chosen to work hard as a linguist for the UN, and now she worked at a local university. She’d never been the least bit interested in working in the Durand luxury brands empire that her older brothers ran together.
Taylor, Harlow, and Vanna all had their own careers, too, and none of them had come from enormous wealth.
I’d met all of their husbands, and I doubted that any of them would have to be forced to do dishes. They were all genuinely nice guys, and extremely protective of their wives.
I knew that Hudson, Jax, Cooper, and Chase would try to make me feel comfortable, even though I was the only single, budget conscious person here.
Strangely, these casual dinners were always fun for me because everyone made me feel like I was part of their tribe.
I was starting to realize that my loneliness here in San Diego had essentially been my fault.
When I’d first arrived in California, I’d pretty much lost my ability to trust anyone except my family, and friendship wasn’t easy without some level of trust.
Luckily, I’d finally met an amazing group of people who made me feel at home in their group.
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
Tori raised a brow. “For what?”
“For having me here tonight. For befriending me. For introducing me to your friends so they could be my friends, too. It means a lot to me.”
She shook her head. “Don’t thank me. I don’t think you realize how much you give to people, Shelby. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t want to be your friend. I’m the one who feels grateful that you wanted to be my friend.”
Before I could answer her, Tori reached for her phone as it vibrated on the counter.
Her face lit up as she looked at me apologetically. “Sorry. I have to answer this text.”
I waved my hand, encouraging her to answer, letting her know it was no big deal.
Her thumbs flew over the screen as she typed, apparently having a text conversation with someone she knew well. By the time she put the phone down again, her genuine smile was radiant.
“Wyatt’s coming,” Tori announced happily. “He just flew in from France. I’m excited that you’ll finally get the chance to meet him. The minute I told him that food was going to be available, he invited himself over. My brother never turns down an opportunity for a dinner that he doesn’t have to pick up from a takeout place.
I swallowed the sip of wine that I’d nearly choked on after she’d mentioned Wyatt.
Oh, God, how am I going to get out of here now? I prepped all of the food. I have to be here to finish it.
I felt panic well up inside me, and I really hated myself for wanting to flee just because Tori’s older brother and I were going to run into each other again.
“What’s wrong?” Tori asked, her tone concerned.
Dammit!
Obviously, I hadn’t done a very good job of hiding my feelings from her.
Unfortunately, Tori had probably seen my distress written all over my face. My cousins had always told me that I was a horrible poker player because they could read what hand I had by looking at my facial expressions.
I wasn’t exactly terrified of Wyatt or anything, but I really didn’t want to spend any time breathing the same air he did.
He’d made his opinion of me pretty clear the last and only time we’d met face-to-face.
“Nothing is wrong,” I replied, not sure how to handle a delicate situation like this one.
I valued Tori’s friendship, and she adored her two older brothers.
I could hardly tell her that while I was really fond of Chase, I really didn’t want to share space with Wyatt.
“I call bullshit,” Tori said drily. “I can tell by the look on your face that something changed the moment I told you that Wyatt was coming to dinner. You don’t want to meet him?”
I sighed. Tori was way too intuitive. I wasn’t going to bluff my way out of confessing the truth anymore. “We’ve…met. He doesn’t like me,” I admitted. “And the feeling is mutual. I’m sorry. I’ll try to cut out of here early.”