Page 75 of Pretty Poison

“Your cinnamon rolls are the best I’ve ever had,” Asher amended.

“That’s more like it.” She crooked her finger, and Asher lowered his head for a kiss on his cheek.

Asher glared at Rocky when Marla sauntered away and he answered with a shrug. His husband would have to learn how to become a proper Southern gentleman by trial and error. He’d survived the first battle with a Southern lady but just barely.

Once Asher finished grilling, Avery and Marla worked together to administer the taste test. Rocky couldn’t tell by looking if the plant-based burger was option A or B. Marla made the guys write down their answers so they wouldn’t influence one another. Jude guessed correctly, but Felix didn’t.

“How’d you know?” Felix asked him.

“There was something slightly different about the texture,” Jude said, then took another bite. “It’s delicious, though.” He looked at Avery. “This is really healthier?”

Avery launched into a spiel about lower saturated fats and other health benefits while everyone loaded their plates with food.

“Better watch out, Jude,” Jonah cautioned. “Next thing you know, Avery will have you drinking sweat-sock stew as part of a weekly cleanse.”

“Gross. What’s that?” Jude asked.

Avery rolled his eyes and elbowed Jonah. “Thundercloud is adamantly opposed to herbal tea and comes up with very slanderous names for it.”

“Some of that stuff does smell like dirty gym socks,” Rocky said. “Peter and I have a do-not-brew list at the office for Trudy.”

Everyone laughed as they settled around the picnic table or in lawn chairs to dig in. Rocky waited nervously for feedback from his chili and hoped it wouldn’t come in the form of retching.

The first compliment came from the last person Rocky expected when Dandridge hovered over Eddie’s bowl and inhaled deeply. “Damn, that chili smells like heaven.”

Eddie pivoted a half turn on the bench to keep Dandridge away from his food. He raised a spoonful to his mouth and straightened. Rocky held his breath while waiting for a reaction. Eddie let out a little moan as he finished chewing. Then he turned back around to face Dandridge. “I’d planned to say you’re not missing out on anything, but damn, you really are.” He looked around the table. “Who made this? I will marry you right now.”

Several hands went up at once, including Rocky’s.

“I’d never planned on marrying one man, let alone five.” Eddie shrugged. “Fuck it. This is damn good chili.”

One by one, the guys lowered their hands, leaving Rocky as the sole survivor.

“I’m already taken,” he said with a casual shrug.

Eddie chuckled. “So I can see.”

Rocky turned his head and caught Asher glaring menacingly at Eddie. He kissed Asher’s firm lips. “Very taken,” he added, hoping to soften the frown lines marring his handsome face.

“Permanently taken,” Asher amended.

After Eddie’s high praise, the others tried the chili too. Some of them added it as toppers on their hot dogs and burgers, others ate it as a soup as God had intended it, and Dandridge moped.

“I’ll figure out a good vegan recipe,” Rocky promised him.

The debates over food continued through the meal, then segued into bets on who played cornhole the best, and so the tournament began.

“Hold my hat, baby,” Marla said to Amos. “Mama is going to whip some ass.” And she did.

Afterward, Amos showed everyone who was boss at horseshoes. Watching his and Asher’s two worlds merging so beautifully filled Rocky with happiness he’d never experienced before because of Duggins’s hostility right out of the gate. Rocky understood the source of it and even sympathized at first. He’d hate to watch Asher fall in love with someone else too. The mere thought caused him to tighten his hold on his man. Asher dropped a kiss on top of his head when he pulled free to take his turn.

Asher silenced a few more calls as the barbecue progressed. Were they all from Duggins? A sense of foreboding grew in Rocky’s gut. There was no way in hell Asher’s former partner would accept being ignored for long. In fact, when Rocky’s cell phone rang twenty minutes later, he expected to see Duggins’s name appear on the screen.

“Something wrong?” Asher asked.

“I don’t know,” Rocky replied. “It’s somebody local.” He accepted the call and said, “Rocky Jacobs.”

“Hi, Mr. Jacobs, this is Grant Duncan. Do you have a minute to talk?”