Dax knows his way around my house but this is Tacker’s first time, so he merely follows Dax as he leads the way to the kitchen. I follow in their wake.
“Where’s the baby?” Dax asks as he sits the bottle on the countertop and turns to my cabinet for some glasses.
“Sleeping right now,” I tell him as I move to the bags of food from Whole Foods. It’s still warm enough that I’m not even going to bother zapping any of it in the microwave. “She’ll be up soon, though, for her bottle.”
Dax snorts and shakes his head. “I cannot wait to see you feed her. Oh, and change her diaper. This is going to be epic.”
I don’t even bother with an eye roll. He can be juvenile at times, but secretly…I can’t wait for Charlie to wake up so I can show her off.
Dax pours drinks and passes them around. Tacker takes a seat on a stool on the other side of the counter. I stop unpacking food a moment as Dax pushes a glass toward me and raises his own. “A quick toast. Merry Christmas, dudes. And congrats on being a dad, Legend.”
Tacker’s face actually softens slightly and he holds his glass up. “Yeah…congrats, man.”
“Cheers,” I say and we lift our glasses to our lips. I savor the flavor going down as that’s some good fucking scotch, but this will be my only drink. Not going to be drunk on any night where I have responsibility for Charlie.
I dish out savory food on my good plates, which are my only plates, but they’re good. I thought about buying paper plates but thought I should try to be a good host for my guests.
Turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans, and cranberry sauce. I got the basics but I got a lot of it, because the three of us can pack away some food. Dax takes a stool next to Tacker and I eat on the opposite side of the counter standing up.
“So how is fatherhood really going?” Dax asks.
“It’s actually not that bad,” I admit to him. “Charlie sleeps a lot. About the worst thing is changing shitty diapers and the odd hours that she wakes up. Like tonight, she’ll probably be up around 1:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. She’s pretty regular in her sleep and eating schedule.”
Dax shakes his head and shoots me a wry grin. “A fucking baby ends up on your doorstep and it’s the world’s best baby. Dude, you lucked out.”
I laugh and turn to the fridge, pulling out three bottles of water. “Don’t I know it. And Pepper has also been helping me.”
“Helping you?” Dax asks. “How?”
I shrug and hand the waters across the counter. As I twist the cap of mine off, I reply, “You know…with just stuff.”
“Stuff?” This from Dax.
“Shopping,” I tell him with a nod. “She helped me buy all the supplies. And she watched Charlie last night. Oh, and she helped me interview the nannies.”
Tacker watches me thoughtfully while Dax’s grin goes evil. “You’re totally into her, aren’t you?”
Dax laughs—really, it’s a cackle—and slaps his hand on the counter. He looks at Tacker but points at me. “Week before last, he couldn’t stand her, and now he’s all googly-eyed over her.”
“I am not,” I snap at him. “And what the fuck is googly-eyed?”
“It means you really like her,” Tacker provides quietly.
Well, no shit.
“Have you kissed her again?” Dax asks, then shovels a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth.
My gaze drops to my plate but I can feel heat creeping up the back of my neck.
“Holy fuck,” Dax drawls slowly and I dare to look at him. He’s pointing at me again with a look of awe on his face. “You’ve actually slept with her, haven’t you?”
I stare back at him stonily.
“More than once,” Dax accuses me, but in a completely delighted way. He holds his hand up, palm out and invites a high five from me. “Well done, dude. I really thought she was gay.”
“She’s not gay,” I growl at him and ignore the hand. I turn my attention back to my meal. “And it’s casual between us, okay? So don’t make anything of it, especially when you see Pepper.”
“Who’s Pepper?” Tacker asks, and Dax and I turn to look at him.
That’s right. Tacker knows nothing of my running feud with Pepper, or that she’s friends with Dax and that he made a move on her that she rebuffed. He knows none of this because he never hangs with us.
Dax decides to fill him in. “Smoking hot neighbor. Totally bohemian and free spirit. Legend used to hate her and all her tacky lawn decorations. I’m friends with her and I tried to kiss her our first time out together, but she wasn’t into it. So I thought she was gay, but apparently not.”