Everyone did the same, echoing his words.
After that, Caeden pulled out a chair for me beside his place at the head of the table.
The food was passed around and I piled a spoonful of everything onto my plate. Amy was an incredible cook and I devoured my plate in no time. It was unladylike of me, but whatever. I was hungry…and pregnant, so I had an excuse.
Luckily our friends were seated beside us so I didn’t have to make small talk with a stranger.
“How’s married life treating you?” I asked Bentley and Christian who sat across from me.
Bentley’s entire face lit up and his brown eyes sparkled with excitement. I’d never seen him look so excited before. “It’s wonderful. Who wouldn’t love waking up to this face every morning?” He poked Chris’ cheek.
She rolled her eyes and swatted his hand away. “He just likes the constant sex.”
I choked on the piece of broccoli I was eating. Leave it to Christian to take this conversation into awkward territory. I was ready to back peddle out of this.
“I don’t have to married to have constant sex,” Bryce piped in.
I looked beside me to see Charlotte’s whole face flushed red. “Shut up,” she hissed under her breath at Bryce.
Bryce smirked and draped his arm over the top of her chair.
“We ain’t got nothin’ to be ashamed of,” he put his other hand on his chest, “sex is a natural part of life.” Dang, he sounded like a strung out hippie. “Thunder has to have some lovin’,” he chuckled.
“Oh my God, kill me now,” Charlotte hung her head in her hands. “I’m not very hungry anymore,” she dropped her napkin on her plate and pushed it away.
“Hungry for something else?” Bryce waggled his brows.
“I’m going to kill you in your sleep,” she warned, narrowing her eyes at him. “I will literally sneak into your room and slit your throat.”
“Baby, if you wanted it rough all you had to do is ask, no need to be so angry about it. Although, I’m not down for throat slitting. That usually ends in death and death is so not cool.”
“I don’t know why I love you,” she shook her head.
I honestly didn’t know how Charlotte tolerated Bryce. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Bryce to death, but he had no filter and Charlotte was the more shy type. They were complete opposites, but they always say opposites attract. I guess only time would tell where those two ended up.
Bryce opened up his mouth, no doubt to say something else equally disgusting, but Caeden glared at his younger brother. “Say one more word and I’ll put you in the corner like the five year old you act like.”
“Dude, chill,” Bryce raised his hands in the air in mock surrender. “You’re not my dad, you don’t need to use that tone with me.”
“Someone has to,” Caeden grumbled. “You’re embarrassing me and you’re embarrassing your girlfriend.”
By this time the table was quieting and people were starting to look toward our end of the table.
Bryce knew better than to say anything further, so his only form of defiance was saluting Caeden, like he was a drill sergeant.
Caeden shook his head and let out a deep breath. I knew he wanted to avoid a scene in front of a crowd like this. Leave it to Bryce to stir up trouble. I know Bryce always meant everything in jest, but sometimes he really needed to think things through before he said them. He was the Alpha’s brother and so he was under just as much scrutiny by the elders as we were.
Luckily we made it through dinner and desert without any more outbursts from Bryce or anyone else. People slowly began to leave and Amy stayed behind to help us clean things up. My parents and Gram left earlier. I had hugged them tightly, never wanting to let go. I hadn’t seen Gram since the day she told us about the baby draining me and I hadn’t seen my parents since my first ultrasound appointment. I missed them fiercely, but since I couldn’t talk to them about what was going on, I decided distance was better. Maybe that made me a wimp, but I didn’t care. It seemed wrong keeping things from them and I knew if I was around them too much I’d end up spilling the beans about the baby, and since Caeden didn’t want anything getting back to the elders there wasn’t much I could talk to Gram about. I mean, she did know about the baby, and obviously hadn’t said anything, but Caeden was so freakin’ paranoid. God, he needed a chill pill…or three.
I finished loading the last dish in the dishwasher and turned to Amy. “Thanks for staying to help clean up and cooking the meal. It was delicious. It meant a lot to me.”
“It was no trouble at all,” she smiled kindly. “I was happy to help.”