Inevitable Detour (Inevitability Book 1)(59)

“Everything is so delicious,” I say between bites.

Rick is at Haven’s side. He’s leaning toward her, encouraging her to have seconds. He looks my way and says, “Thank you, Essa.”

“It is very good,” Farren, at the head of the table, chimes in.

When I glance over at him, I notice he’s intently observing the interaction between his friend and his sister.

Not noticing that she’s being watched, Haven smiles at Rick and accepts his offer of another helping. He places more food on her plate, his movements careful around her, and his brown eyes kind. Farren glances at me, and I raise a brow. He shrugs, and then continues eating.

Guess he’s fine with the prospect of something developing between Haven and Rick. Same as she was fine with us. The Shaws are like that. Once they accept you, you’re in. Rick must truly be someone who can be trusted. Otherwise, Farren would have him on his ass.

After dinner is finished and the plates are cleared, Haven yawns and says she’s tired. She stands and stretches, then says to me in a hopeful voice, “Come upstairs with me, Essa?”

I push back my chair. “Yes, of course,” I say, standing.

Farren, meanwhile, is preoccupied. He’s asking Rick if there’s anything to drink in the house. “Like something stronger than soda,” he says, nodding to his glass of cola.

“There’s aged Scotch in the den,” Rick offers.

Farren raises a brow. “Cigars, too?”

“The best,” Rick tells him. “Cuban, of course.”

“Perfect,” Farren says, leaning back and relaxing.

“You boys have fun,” Haven remarks lightly, her carefree tone reminding me of how she usually is. “We girls have some catching up to get to.” She grabs my arm and starts to pull me out of the room. “Isn’t that right, Essa?”

“Yep,” I reply as I allow her to tug me along. “We sure do.”

Farren, though, stops my progress when he snatches up my wrist. “Hold up,” he says.

Haven releases her hold on me and rolls her eyes. Farren ignores her. His thumb caresses where my pulse is picking up. “I’ll see you in bed?” he asks, raising a brow.

I nod. Apparently, I’ll be sleeping in the same room as Farren. Not that I expected anything different. Rick must have been in charge of setting the rooms up, surely at Farren’s bequest.

Farren adds, “Don’t be too late,” and Haven makes a gagging noise. I can’t help but laugh. It’s all in good fun. And it’s great to see Haven is still Haven.

As we make our way back out to the entry hall and to the stairs, she says, “I can’t believe you’re sleeping with my brother.”

“I thought you were okay with it,” I carefully remark.

“I am,” she says, slowing as we reach the base of a beautiful, curved staircase. She turns to me. “I’m not entirely surprised. I always knew you thought Farren was hot.”

“How’d you know that?” I inquire.

“Duh,” she says, snorting. “That time you were downloading pictures of him from my computer was a huge tip-off.”

“Oh, God.” I cover my face with my hands. “I still can’t believe you caught me doing that.”

“It’s okay, Essa.” She tugs at my hands, still covering my face, until I drop them. “I can see how it would happen. He is a nice-looking guy.”

I cough. “Uh, Haven, hate to break it to you, but Farren is way more than just nice-looking.”

She shrugs. “Yeah, I guess. Whatever.” After a thoughtful pause, she adds, “Some parts of you being with him are going to suck, though.”

“Oh.” I raise my brows, curious. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, I sure as hell won’t be asking you for any bedroom performance reports. That’s for sure.”

She grimaces, her face as beautiful as ever, and I laugh. “You mean you don’t want to know how big Farren’s c—”

She smacks my arm. “Ugh, God, no. Stop!”

But I don’t stop. I continue, undeterred since we’re both laughing. Well, particularly because Haven is laughing. She needs to laugh after what she’s endured.

So I say with a straight face, “Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to hear about the things Farren can do in bed? Let me tell you, that big dick of his is—”

She covers my mouth with her hand, but she is still cracking up.

“Seriously, Essa,” she says when she calms down, “that is just gross. Brothers do not have penises, okay?”

“What do they have?” I mumble, my words muffled by her hand.

“Nothing,” she says. She moves her hand from my mouth. “They have nothing. They just…are.”

“Again, I hate to break it to you, Hav, but brothers, even yours, absolutely do have dicks. In fact, some people’s brothers’ dicks are—”

I don’t get any further. Her hand is back on my mouth, muffling my words to gibberish. We’re caught up in fits of laughter again. All this silliness is a much-needed stress reliever for us both.

When Haven finally allows me to talk again—albeit with a stern “be good”—we head up to her bedroom.

Haven’s room is at the end of the hall, and as we pass the other bedrooms, she points out which one has been fixed up for me and Farren. She also makes a point to tell me which bedroom Rick sleeps in. She looks in a little longingly as we pass.