Page 41 of Take My Love

“Posey’s the one who told me to find a rebound.” Silas points at me.

“Not from work!” I exclaim.

“You could always use a datin’ app like Posey…” Bellamy blurts.

Everyone’s gazes shift back to me, including Silas’s who looks more conflicted than anything.

And now I’m going to kill her for bringing that up.

“I’m starvin’, let’s eat!” I reach for one of the dishes, but Aunt JoJo smacks my hand.

“We gotta say grace first,” she reminds me.

Mom stands when the oven timer goes off.

“Any luck on the app since you scared away the last guy?” Colton quips.

He’s two years younger so we often complain to each other about being in the dating trenches. His problem isn’t finding girls who want him, it’s finding one he actually likes. He claims even if he’s attracted to them, he needs to have the gutfeelingto pursue something more. Whereas my problem is men in general.

“If he didn’t want an opinion on his…manhood…then he shouldn’t have sent a photo of it askin’ me to rate it from one to ten.”

Maisie nearly chokes on her sweet tea the moment she takes a sip. “I’m scared to ask what you said.”

“I’d rather you not say at all…” Dad pinches his brow, then steals one of the hot rolls from the pan Mom took out.

“I wanna know!” Aunt JoJo beams.

I shrug because it’s not like they aren’t used to hearing this by now. With three brothers, my parents have heard a lot worse.

“I told him it was hard to rate what I couldn’t see and to send me another angle. He was too dumb to realize I was mockin’ him, so he did. Then I told him that his dad should send me one instead so I know what it’s supposed to look like.”

Laughter echoes through the room.

“How’d he take that?” Maisie asks.

“He called me a sociopath, so I said, ‘is that anyway to talk to your future stepmother?’ Then he told me his father was dead and blocked me.”

“Oh my…” Mom clutches her chest once she sets the basket of rolls down on the table and everyone cackles. “Maybe we should change the dinner conversation.”

That’s hardly the worst thing men have said to me on those apps. It’s why I stopped trying because it was a waste of time. Even if things led to us meeting in person and dating for a bit, they always ended it once things turned sexual.

We finally bow our heads as Dad blesses the food. When I shift my gaze toward Silas, I find him already staring at me. I look away before it’s awkward.

Once everyone has food on their plates, Mom talks about the wedding.

“Landen only gave us thirty days to plan this, so we need tostay organized. Everyone’s gonna have a job, includin’ you Silas.” Mom winks at him.

“Yes, ma’am. Whatever you need.”

I’d roll my eyes if he wasn’t so damn polite.

“Why’s the engagement so short? Is Ellie pregnant?” Bodie asks. “Is it a shotgun weddin’?”

Colton chuckles. “That’s what we all said about Tripp.”

That’s Landen’s younger brother who married Magnolia last year only four months after he proposed, but she just had a baby, so it was good she wasn’t pregnant again so soon.

“No, she’s not pregnant. She’s trainin’ for the National Finals Rodeo at the end of this year,” Mom confirms. “But that’s what you do when you’re in love. You wanna get married as soon as possible.”