ashleighraine.com » The Gang Has Dinner

The Gang Has Dinner

Jen: This was one of those fun scenes to write, where we have all our favorite characters together in one place celebrating and happy and completely conflict free. Yeah, whoops! So, although fun for us, it didn’t move the plot forward one iota so away it went.

Lisa: I guess this was just pure fun for the authors to play in our world. It’s common knowledge that if we could cruise around in Talisman Bay, we’d do it in a heartbeat. This kind of scene is the closest we can get to that, so away we went with grins on our faces, happily getting lost… But yeah, we neglected to move the story forward, so buh-bye scene.

The meal portion of tonight’s festivities was winding down. Servers were clearing dinner dishes and replacing them with dessert—chocolate mousse in a cup made of chocolate on a plate drizzled with some type of red fruit sauce. Raspberry? Strawberry? Dusty dragged a finger through the syrup and lifted it to his mouth.

From her seat next to him, Twyla leaned in and whispered, “It’s raspberry.”

“Saw that, did ya?” Dusty lifted his sticky finger. “So much for being sneaky.”

Twyla held out her index finger. “We’re both guilty.”

“Guilty?” Marlin looked at Twyla, then at Dusty. “What are you two guilty of?”

“Being the sexiest singles in the room.” Twyla lifted a bite of the mousse to her lips. “Jealous, Prettyboy?”

“No.” Marlin smirked.

Dusty’s gaze skipped around the table. All his friends were present, except for Ana and Jake, who were out patrolling. And Fiero, who on account of lacking corporeal form in this dimension, got out of all the public duties. Lucky sons of bitches. Jake and Ana were supposed to show up later, unless the creatures of the night kept them too busy.

Stephan and Mariah sat together on the opposite side of the table. As Mariah dove into the dessert, Stephan leaned in and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes lit up and she smiled and nodded, before turning to kiss him.

Dusty looked away. With these two, it was impossible to avoid playing the voyeur. Even when they weren’t touching, the air between them crackled with the intensity of their love. And when they were touching, you’d have to be blind, deaf and dumb to not be affected. Living with them in the compound the last three months had been almost painful. Not that he wasn’t happy for Stephan. It was about time the man had some happiness to counter all the hard work. And really, Dusty had never seen his friend so content. The guy actually smiled now, often, and always because of Mariah.

But, doggone it, a small part of Dusty—a part he did his best to ignore—was jealous. Jealous that Stephan had someone who gave a damn about him, who cared if he came home at night, who knew him and loved him unconditionally. Kendra had only cared about changing Dusty into her ideal vision of man. And the only thing his current bed partner, Jeneane, wanted was his dick, and when his wasn’t available, she had an array of others to choose from and often did.

So yeah, he wondered what it was like to feel what Stephan felt when he looked at Mariah. But then again, was it really what Dusty wanted? Marlin had been in love once, and suffered miserably when Judy was kidnapped and murdered by a demon. That wound would probably never heal, and Stephan worried incessantly that something would happen to Mariah. Was love worth the grief?

“I’m gonna dance circles around both of you.” Twyla leveled her chocolate-laced spoon at Marlin and Ryan.

“Well, I’d enjoy watching you orbit me. But”—Ryan elbowed Marlin—“Prettyboy here might not want you threatening his boogie prowess.”

“Oh hell no. Don’t you start calling me that.” Marlin made a slicing motion in the air in front of his neck, the universal sign for “shut the fuck up”, before pointing at Twyla. “I’ll show you what’s what out on that dance floor. Ain’t nobody gonna out-boogie me, girl.”

“Hey, guys,” Stephan said. “Settle that later. I’ve gotta tell you all something before you hear it somewhere else.” Stephan and Mariah’s clasped hands rested on the table between them. “I asked Mariah to marry me today, and she said yes.”

Matching grins covered the lovers’ faces, and Mariah lifted her free hand into the air, wiggling a finger weighed down with multiple gems.

“It’s about time.” Dusty shook his head at Stephan. “I wouldn’t have given her the last three months to come to her senses. She would’ve left me for sure.” He turned to Mariah with a smile. “I still think you should have married me when I asked you.”

“You didn’t want me, silly boy, you just wanted my coffee.” Mariah’s eyes sparkled as she leaned against Stephan.

“Okay, so I did.” Dusty shrugged. “It was really that good.”

Ryan raised his eyebrows. “Hey, what’s wrong with mine? Everybody likes my coffee, don’t they?” When no one replied, Ryan smacked his hand on the table. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Something.” Marlin shrugged amid everyone else’s chuckles.

“Anyway, congratulations, man.” Ryan reached over and slapped Stephan on the back.

“And here I told you to just find a guy and get laid. What was I thinkin’?” Twyla winked at Mariah.

A chair scraped across the floor as Marlin pushed back from the table and stood. Oh hell, was he going to leave? Dusty thought that hatchet got buried a long time ago, when Mariah first arrived in Stephan’s life. The brothers had fought like crazy over Stephan getting involved with Mariah, Marlin not wanting another woman brought into the danger of their world.

Marlin didn’t walk away though. Instead, he faced Stephan and Mariah. “If anyone can make me believe love still exists, it’s you two.” He lifted his water glass to the happy couple. “Congratulations. Both of you.”

The group raised their glasses and clinked them together.