“Okay, so that wraps up my presentation,” Josh said when he’d finished, a broad grin on his face.
“You need to ask if anybody has a question,” Michael prompted him.
“Oh yeah.” Josh slapped his face with the palm of his hand. “I keep forgetting. Ladies and Gentlemen, do you have any questions?”
Cam put his hand up.
“Yes?” Josh grinned at him.
“What’s your favorite part of the human body?” Cam asked him.
Mia bit down a smile. That was actually a good question.
Josh pressed his finger to his lips, eyes narrowing as though he was deep in thought. Then his face lit up. “The anus,” he told them. “That’s where all the waste goes out. If we didn’t let the waste out, we’d slowly be poisoned. So that’s probably the most important part of our body, and therefore my favorite.”
Cam was shaking next to her, his mouth twitching in an attempt not to laugh. Mia elbowed him in the waist, wincing as her bone connected with his hard muscle.
“Ow.”
Michael turned to look at them. “What’s happening?”
“Your mom elbowed me,” Cam told him. “It hurt.”
“It hurt me more. Your body must be made of titanium or something,” Mia muttered, rubbing her arm.
“Actually, Mom, bodies are made of cells,” Josh pronounced. “Tiny little production factories that make us up. Isn’t that cool?”
Cam leaned in closer to her. “You hurt my cells,” he whispered. “My tiny little production factories might go on strike.”
She shot him a look that made him grin widely. He was enjoying this.
Yeah, and maybe so was she. Just a little. It was nice having another adult here. Maybe too nice.
The doorbell rang, and Michael jumped to his feet. “It’s pizza time,” he said, rubbing his palms together.
“I’ll get some money,” Mia said, pushing herself away from Cam. She was thankful for the space. Her body needed it.
“Cam already paid with his card,” Josh told her. “He ordered on the app. It’s cool.”
She looked at Cam who shrugged. “I’ll add it to your bill,” he told her, standing and rubbing the back of his neck. “Come on, let’s go eat pizza.”
He liked watching Mia when she didn’t know his eyes were on her. Cam sat at the kitchen table, his long thighs crossed as he sipped on a mug of coffee. He’d tried to help clean up, but Mia had shooed him away, telling him if he was buying dinner, then he didn’t get to tidy up, too.
Instead, she’d made him coffee and he’d sat down and watched as Michael rinsed the plates and Josh loaded the dishwasher.
Sam still had an old fashioned drip filter machine, the kind Cam could remember growing up with. It was surprising how good it tasted, even though his buds were more used to flat whites and Americanos than simple old fashioned drip.
“We’re done,” Josh said, closing the dishwasher with a loud bang. Cam smiled into his mug. He really liked Mia’s kids, despite their first awkward meeting. Josh was cute and funny and always made everybody smile.
Michael was more complicated. Part of that came from his age. And some probably came from being the eldest man in the family – if you
didn’t count Sam. Cam could remember how his mom’s death had made all the brothers grow up. It had made them more protective of Becca, too, much to her disgust.
Michael probably felt the same way about Josh.
“Can I go upstairs and finish my homework?” Michael asked.
“Sure, go ahead.” Mia nodded.