“Santino’s?” Aside from Stone Castle, Santino’s was the swankiest restaurant in Whisper Lake.
“Yes. Seven.” The woman lifted her cane and pointed it at Ali as she emphasized, “Sharp.”
“But don’t you normally eat at four?” Ali was confused as to why she’d schedule a dinner so late on a Sunday night.
“Don’t sass me, young lady.” Mrs. D set her cane down and walked away.
She wasn’t. She was just asking a question, but she knew pointing that out would be sassing her, so she let it go.
The heat of the sun beat down on her as Ali went back to filling the ice chest. Before she shut the lid, she grabbed two pieces of ice and held them to the back of her neck. Just then, the wooden gate that led to the backyard opened. She looked up and saw Jess breeze through looking like a tattooed, nose-ringed vintage pinup girl. Her friend’s sleeveless white shirt with black polka dots was tied in a knot above her high-waisted denim shorts, and she had a bandana tied around her hair that was black with white polka dots. Her red lipstick complimented the outfit and Jess’s sun-kissed skin.
“Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. Mrs. Clayborn wouldn’t stop yapping about her son being engaged to—,” she stopped and her jaw dropped open as she took in the scene in Ali’s backyard. “Holy hot tabasco.”
Ali’s eyes followed Jess’s over to Kade and Ethan. Keaton had joined them and the three men were all shirtless due to an impromptu Slip N’ Slide competition that had broken out.
“That’s a whole lot of man meat.”
“Yes it is.” Ali agreed, only having eyes for one slab that had her mouth watering like a cartoon wolf seeing a steak.
The trio of man-meat men were all animatedly discussing something that Ali would bet dollars to donuts had to do with MMA. They were talking with their hands and demonstrating different moves. It was a blur of muscles, tattoos, and hotness.
“Damn.” Jess stood motionless, as if moving would somehow make it all go away. “You could charge admission. This is as hot as the Magic Mike show I saw in Vegas.”
Ricky and the dog ran up to them, interrupting their viewing pleasure.
“Can Ryder stay the night?” he asked.
“Sure. If it’s okay with his mom.” That was one parenting trick Ali had learned the hard way. The parental approval caveat.
“Thanks!” Satisfied with that answer, Ricky went back to his friends but Dumbass remained at Ali’s feet.
“Who brought a dog to the barbeque?” Jess, an avid dog lover, had just noticed Dumbass, which was another testament to just how hot the Man Meat Show had been.
“Kade.”
“Kade has a dog?” Jess lifted her oversized sunglasses and set them atop her glossy black hair, revealing her perfectly applied wing-tip eyeliner.
“It’s his dad’s, or was his dad’s. The poor baby was tied up in the sun.”
“Fucking George,” Jess bit out through clenched teeth before she bent down and rubbed the pup’s head. He took that as an invitation to lick Jess’s entire face.
“Actually, George was doing the best he could, it was just too much with his health issues.” Everyone in Whisper Lake knew that George was gravely ill since he collapsed outside The Snack Shack last summer.
“What’s your name, handsome boy?” She asked the dog directly before shooting a look up at Ali. “He is a boy, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he’s a boy.” Ali smiled down at the mutt and Jess did the same. “That’s Dumbass.”
Jess’s head whipped back up to look at her friend.
“George named him,” Ali explained.
“Fucking George,” Jess repeated, this time with affection.
“Dumbass, come here!” KJ called out and the dog sprinted toward the twins and their friends, jumping up at the last second and almost knocking KJ over. All of the boys burst out laughing.
“Wow. The twins look like they love him. Is Kade taking it with him when he leaves?”
“He’s not leaving.” It was the first time Ali had said the words out loud and it caused her heart to jump.