His brothers knew the full truth, and they had every right to be curious and even a little concerned about our relationship. I glanced over at Dalton and said, “You’re right. I was his therapist, but I’m not anymore.”
“And Lynch, before you go getting any ideas in that thick head of yours, no lines were crossed or any of that bullshit when she was working with me. Not that I didn’t try, ’cause I did.” Dalton teased, nudging me with his elbow. “Hell, I tried all the time, but she wasn’t having it. Damn near wore me out trying to get her to drop all that anger management bullshit. It wasn’t like I needed it, anyway. You all know how easygoing I am.”
The men looked at one another, then back at Dalton before exploding into laughter. Once they settled down, Axel shook his head and snickered. “Sorry, brother, but easygoing is not a word that any of us would use to describe you. Maybe strong-willed or hard-headed. Stubborn, even, but not easygoing.”
“That cuts deep, brother.” Dalton brought his hand up to his wounded heart. “Really fucking deep.”
“Only ’cause you know it’s true.” Axel nodded his head in my direction. “I’m sure Sophie had her hands full with you.”
“Could’ve had them even more full if she—”
I jabbed Dalton in the ribs with my elbow, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence. Thankfully, everyone’s attention was drawn away from me when some of the women got up from their seats and walked into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, a young woman approached the table with an enormous turkey as the others returned with handfuls of side dishes. The guys were practically salivating at the mouth as they watched the food being set down. “Okay, boys. Time to dig in.”
The young woman handed Axel the knife, then stepped back so he could start carving away at the beautiful turkey. Moments later, we began filling our plates with food and diving into our magnificent feast.
The room fell silent as we started eating, but as expected, that didn’t last long. Dalton was taking a sip of his iced tea when Rafe looked over to us and said, “We’re all gonna meet up with Country and Hawk at Stilettos later if you two wanna join us.”
“Thanks, man, but as soon as we finish here, we’re gonna head over to the mall.”
“You at a mall? Are you fucking kidding me?”
The room erupted into laughter. Once the howling subsided, Dalton’s eyes skirted over to me as he continued, “Apparently, shopping after you stuff your face with turkey is a thing. Never knew.”
He shrugged with a groan. I gave him another nudge with my elbow, then leaned towards him and whispered, “I told you at least a hundred times that you don’t have to go with me. I can go alone or get Margo.”
“I’m going. I’m curious to see what all the fuss is about.”
Those would be words he’d come to regret the second we pulled into the mall’s parking lot. The place was absolutely packed, and even though he was starting to feel the effects of his carb overload from dinner, he kept his complaints to himself as we fought our way into the first department store.
I did my best to grab the gifts I needed, then led him to the next store. Again, even though it took more searching, I found the things I was specifically looking for, and after waiting in the line from hell, I finally made my purchases, and we moved to the next location. That was when Dalton finally spoke up. He looked utterly distraught. “What the hell have you gotten me into?”
“It’s Black Friday, Dalton. You had to know it was going to be a little crowded.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t expecting it to be like this.” He glanced around at the packed department store and groaned. “I mean, holy hell. This shit is insane.”
“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad.” I looked up at Dalton, and it was clear from his pained expression he wasn’t enjoying our shopping adventure nearly as much as I was. Even though I felt a little guilty torturing him with all the Black Friday hoopla, I was genuinely happy having him with me.
He was big and intimidating, so instead of crowding around us, people seemed to shy away—which meant I had better access to all the best deals. As I led him down yet another jam-packed aisle, I tried to sound upbeat. “And if we play it right, we’ll get some incredible deals.”
“Okay, Cindy Lou Who. Is there any rhyme or reason to all of this madness?”
“Well, since you asked ...” I reached into my purse and pulled out the list of items I was hoping to buy, then offered it to him. “These are the rest of the things I need to get tonight. I have the times the stores open and where each item is located. We could—”