Taking Shots (Assassins, #1)(115)
Elli rolled her eyes, coming from the dining room to the kitchen. Harper was wearing a tight little red number, with gorgeous peep toe black boots. She looked beautiful like always, and Jakob stood proudly beside her, wearing a nice little dress suit, with a red shirt and his brace on his leg. “Now you hush! I love my Winter Wonderland!”
Harper laughed, handing Elli the red velvet cake her mother had made, “You’re lucky I got out the house with that. Piper and Reese almost got a hold of it.”
“Oh! You should have invited them!” Elli complained as she carried the cake into the kitchen, “Shea hasn’t met them yet.”
“Yeah, they were being brats. Plus, they always laugh at us when we play our games.”
Elli giggled, nervously. She had been nervous all day about Shea laughing at her when he saw how they played their game. “True.”
“Wow, everything looks yummy,” Harper said scoping out the food, she ate just like a dude, which made Elli sick with how she could eat and not gain an ounce. “So this is a really nice place.”
“It is,” Elli agreed as Shea and Jakob made their way into the kitchen.
“Wow, nice spread Elli,” Jakob said, hugging Harper into his side.
“Thanks, Jakob.”
“I was just telling Elli, this is a nice place, Shea. I really like it,” Harper said, Shea nodded thanks as he poured wine for everyone.
“I like it for just us,” Harper cut a look over at Elli, grinning ear to ear, but Elli just ignored her as Shea continued, “but I would like to get something bigger one day. I love Elli’s house, but it’s a little out there.”
“Yeah,” Harper agreed, “Jakob and I are actually looking into houses.”
Elli dropped the spoon she had in her hand, “Seriously?”
“Yeah, my condo is so stinkin’ small, and he lives in an even smaller apartment, so we are looking into getting house,” Harper gushed with a grin.
“Wow, that’s amazing!” Elli exclaimed just as the doorbell rang, “Someone’s here!”
Shea was wicked nervous.
He was more nervous about meeting Elli’s friends than he was about meeting her family. She actually loved these people! So it meant something if they didn’t like him. Elli was fine; she grabbed a hold of his hand, dragging him to the door to greet their guest. He loved when she was excited like this, and after setting up the Winter Wonderland in his living room, she was the biggest ball of sunshine he had ever seen.
Elli threw the door open to a huge black man, and little bitty blonde haired woman. The girls let out a little squeal, wrapping each other up in a hug. “Come in, it’s freezin’ out!”
They came inside, grinning ear to ear, “Jodi, Derrick, this is Shea,” Elli said as the pair beamed up at him, “Shea, this is my best friend Jodi, we used to sing together back in school and some on Broadway,” Jodi held out her hand, shaking Shea’s eagerly.
“So nice to meet you! I’ve heard some much,” Jodi gushed.
“It’s great to finally meet you,” Shea said, as Elli just stood by grinning.
“And this is her husband Derrick. He looks mean, but he’s a teddy bear,” Elli said rubbing the man’s large belly. When he broke out in a huge smile, Shea could breathe. The dude was huge!
They shook hands, just as the doorbell rang again.
“Walter and Trice are here, y’all can head into the kitchen, Harper and Jakob are in there.” Elli said going to the door, as Jodi beamed back at her.
“Two boyfriends in one day, it’s my Christmas wish come true.” Jodi gushed. Shea chuckled as the couple made their way into the kitchen. Elli then opened the door to two blonde haired men, one was wearing a pink jacket (no joke) while the other wore a nice tailored black one.
“Hey guys, come on in.”
The guys came in, grinning over at Elli. “I mean, goodness, Elli, you look fantastical! Radiant!” one of the guys said, while the heavier one nodded his head. “You do, darlin’!”
“Thanks guys! Shea,” both men turned to look at Shea, looking him over as Elli went on with her spill, “This is Trice and Walter. Trice runs the makeup department at the TPAC, while Walter is the backstage director. Guys, this is Shea,” she said, before the guys took turns taking Shea’s hand in theirs.
“Well, aren’t you perfect for our Elli, just the way she described you. It’s nice to meet you,” Trice said, Shea nodded as he smiled broadly.
“Same here, thank you,” he said, as Elli took his hand in hers.
“Y’all ready to eat? I’ve been cooking all night!”
Everyone made their way into the dining as Shea and Elli carried all the food in, placing it in the middle of the table that Elli had made into a wonderland. She had actually dusted fake snow down the middle, with little Santas, snowmen, reindeer, and stars everywhere. The girl loved Christmas, something else he never knew. After placing all the food for everyone to dig in, Elli and Shea sat down and dinner started. The food was amazing but what Shea found surprising was how easy he fit in with Elli’s friends.
He was nervous about Trice and Walter, since he didn’t really know any homosexuals, but the guys were funny as all hell and Shea enjoyed their stories of the terrible actress they were currently dealing with. Jodi and Derrick were so different that they worked; Jodi was a firecracker that loved the dramatics. Shea was certain the girl would break out in song at any minute. Derrick talked a lot about his job as a teacher at one of the prestigious private high schools in the city and since Shea’s parents were also educators, they had a lot to talk about. So wonder Elli loved them so much, they were all great people.