“That’s precisely why I didn’t tell you,” Mac said with a snort. “I don’t want my dating life to be the topic of your dinner table conversation. And judging by the fact that Delilah didn’t tell Sarah either, she feels exactly the same way as I do.”
“So how was it?” Wyatt asked. He sat back in his chair as if waiting to be entertained with the details. “Inquiring minds want to know.”
Mac reached across the table for the bucket of chicken wings. He deposited a few on his plate and focused on the task for a few moments rather than on his brothers. This was new territory for him. He had barely put his big toe in the dating pool, so dishing out the details of his amazing date with Delilah felt awkward. He wanted to keep it private, something to be shared only between himself and Delilah. He had no idea of where things were headed with her, but the way she made him feel was something new in his world. No one had ever caused his pulse to race. And he couldn’t stop thinking about her. But there was no way he was confessing these things to his six brothers. No way in the world.
“It was…nice,” he finally said, earning groans from around the table.
“Ouch,” Brandon said. “Nobody ever wants to be described as a nice date.”
Feeling confused, Mac looked around the table. “What’s wrong with nice?”
“Nice implies it was nothing out of the ordinary. Basic,” Nick explained. “Take it or leave it.”
“Nice is kind of like the kiss of death,” Ryder chimed in. He let out a chuckle. “At least as far as women are concerned.”
“It was nice,” Mac insisted. “She’s…different than I expected her to be. Thoughtful. Kind. She’s beautiful. I like the way her hair swirls around her face when she’s talking in an animated way. And she thinks of others before herself. At first I thought we might just talk about Callie, but we didn’t. There were so many other things we discussed. I had this feeling of comfort, like knowing you’re with an old friend.” He shook his head, still awed by the strong connection he’d felt. “We were finishing each other’s sentences which has never happened to me before, except with you guys.”
He stopped talking. You could have heard a pin drop at the table. All he could hear was the noises emanating from customers at other tables. The clinking of glasses. The low rumble of laughter. Waitresses explaining the menu items.
“So there you have it,” he said, trying to fill up the silence.
“It sounds like it was more than a nice date, Mac,” Remy said, flashing him a brilliant smile. “From where I’m sitting it seems like you guys had the perfect date.”
Perfect. There hadn’t been a lot of perfect things in his life, except for the Donahue family. As a family Lord knows they weren’t really perfect, but the love they held for one another was sheer perfection. No woman had ever made him feel the things Delilah was making him feel. Longing. Yearning. It confused him. Excited him. More than anything, it terrified him. For a man who had lost faith in ever finding romantic love, it felt like being blessed with something wonderful that you didn’t deserve. Something he hadn’t seen coming in a million years.
“So,” Blue said as he poured beer into Brandon’s mug from the pitcher of ale, “When are you going out with her again?”
Mac felt his brows drawing together. “Let’s not turn this into an inquisition.”
Six pairs of eyes stared him down. He let out a tortured groan. It was already beginning. By the time each of his brothers arrived at their respective homes, news of his date with Delilah would be shared with each of their wives. And even though Wyatt wasn’t yet married to Kaitlyn, he knew he too would share the news as quickly as possible.
He wasn’t used to all this focus on his love life. Lately it had been all about Mac finding someone to walk through life with. He’d always been private. It felt strange to suddenly have to share his romantic feelings with his brothers. He let out a sigh. Fair was fair. For a long time now his brothers had been sharing all aspects of their love lives with him. He owed them a little nugget of information.
“All right. I like her. I want to go out with her again,” he confessed. A chorus of hoots and whistles rose up at the table. He glared at his brothers and held his hands up to stop their commotion. “But I don’t want my personal life to be gossiped about at the Donahue dinner tables. Delilah and I are just getting to know each other. Who knows whether this will fizzle out or go somewhere? I haven’t been very good at relationships, and something tells me she hasn’t been either.”