Page 109 of It's Not PMS, It's You

“Iloveit.”

“Well, you have great timing then. Hang on . . .” Jay shredded some of the pork with a fork. He pulled a slider bun off the grill, placed the shredded pork on top, and squirted his secret sauce on top. Then he topped it with the other half of the bun, placed it on a paper plate, and handed it to Ruth with a napkin. “Try this.”

“Thank you.” Ruth took a bite and stopped chewing, her eyes opening wide. “Wow.” She chewed a little more. “Double wow. What is this?”

“A pulled-pork slider. Twelve hours marinated, eight hours smoked, honey butter slider buns, plus my secret homemade whiskey barbecue sauce on top. Voilà!”

“This is incredible.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”

Ruth licked her fingers one by one. “Are you a professional chef? You must cook for a living.”

Jay chuckled. “No, no. Many moons ago I had thought about doing it as a career. Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out, but that’s okay because I have a solid job. The family ropes me into doing this every year for the reunion.” He winked. “Okay, they didn’t have to really convince me. I love cooking for people.”

There was no way anyone, especially me, could compete against Jay in the cooking category. Sure, I could hold my own against the average person, but Jay was a master in the kitchen and on the barbecue.

He could have easily wooed Ruth with his food alone.

I glanced down at her plate.

It was empty.

Not good.

I wouldn’t have been surprised if they were married before the end of the reunion.

All because I decided to be a nice guy and introduce her to him.

Maybe I would also get a star on the Idiot Walk of Fame.

Ruth wiped her mouth. “Seriously, you may want to rethink your career. What do you do now?”

I patted Jay on the back, hoping Ruth didn’t like nerds. “He’s a rocket scientist.”

Jay shook his head. “A slight exaggeration . . . I work for Mathors Aerospace. We design unmanned drones that are able to carry emergency medical supplies to remote locations, as well as other things.”

“That’s wonderful,” Ruth said. “I really admire that you’re able to—”

I tuned them out for a little bit, trying to come up with a plan to stop this dating game in its tracks and do something fun with Ruth. Something to get her away from anyone who was male, single, and good-looking.

If I had to introduce her to one more cousin, I could choose the lowliest of the bunch to ensure there was no possibility that they would connect.

That was the problem I was faced with.

I wasn’t lying when I had told Ruth they were all catches.

All of my cousins were gainfully employed, smart, kind, and good-looking.

I was in trouble.

And the only person I could blame was myself.

Uh-oh.

I think they were talking to me, because both Ruth and Jay were staring, waiting, like they wanted me to respond to something they had said.

“Where wereyou?” Ruth tapped the top of my head. “You sure were deep in thought.”