“Rebekah didn’t get any,” Eric said. He slid from the end of the bench and waved her toward his vacated seat. “Have mine.”
She heard his stomach rumble from where she stood. “No, you eat. I’ll be fine.”
“Get her a plate,” Sed said. “We’ll all share.”
“That isn’t nec—” The eager looks on their faces stifled her protests.
Eric retrieved a plate and set it in the center of the table. Each gave her some of their food until her plate was fuller than any of theirs. She didn’t know why it touched her so much. “Thank you.”
“Sit,” Eric insisted. He picked up his plate and moved to the living area. He sat on the sofa and balanced his plate against his chest so he could shovel food into his mouth with his free hand.
There was a narrow spot beside Trey on the bench. He glanced at her and then at Eric in the living room. Instead of scooting over to give her more room, he moved further from Brian so that there was no place to sit. Rebekah decided he didn’t want her to sit beside him. She bit her lip, not sure why Trey’s rebuffs hurt so much. She took her plate from the table and went to sit next to Eric on the sofa.
“That was rude,” Sed commented.
“Shut up,” Trey murmured.
Rebekah ignored him. It wasn’t hard when Eric gifted her with a brilliant smile. She’d rather sit with him anyway. Otherwise, he’d be eating alone.
“God, this is good,” Brian said with a full mouth. “I think Reb deserves a raise.”
Rebekah flushed with pleasure and set her plate on her lap. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Love it,” Sed said in his deep baritone.
“Thanks for cooking for us,” Jace added with an adorable smile.
Trey silently shoveled food into his mouth, but Eric nudged her gently with his elbow. “If you feed them good food, they’ll love you forever.”
She supposed she could handle that. “Well, since I can’t drive the bus, I guess I’ll take the cooking duties.”
Several hollers of appreciation came from the dining area.
“But you guys get to wash the dishes,” she added.
The appreciative cheers turned to grumbles.
Someone’s phone rang. There was a scuffle as Trey snatched Brian’s phone out of his hand and answered. “Hi, Myrna. Watcha doin’?” Trey said in a teasing tone. “Oh, he’s much too busy to talk right now.”
“Give me the phone,” Brian insisted.
“Are you knocked up yet?” Trey asked. His face fell, and he hurriedly handed the phone to Brian. “She’s crying.”
“Great,” Brian grumbled and shoved Trey out of the booth with both hands. Brian headed toward the bedroom with his phone. “Don’t cry, sweetheart,” he said to his wife. “We have plenty of time. We’ll keep trying.”
Brian closed the bedroom door behind him.
Rebekah pushed her food around her plate, her appetite suddenly lacking. She doubted she could swallow around the knot in her throat anyway.
“Dipshit,” Sed grumbled at Trey.
“I didn’t mean to make her cry. How was I supposed to know she started her period?”
“She told you that?” Sed cocked an eyebrow at him.
“How else is she going to know she’s not pregnant?”
“Was she really crying?” Jace asked.
“Yeah…”
“Maybe we should ask her to come on tour with us again,” Sed said. “How is she supposed to get pregnant if she’s in Kansas City and Brian is touring all over the country?”
“He could always jack off into an empty beer bottle and FedEx it to her,” Eric said.
While everyone else rolled their eyes at him, Rebekah burst out laughing.
“He can put it on dry ice, and then she can warm it up in the microwave when it arrives.”
Rebekah laughed harder, almost dropping her plate in
the process.
“Oh my God, Rebekah,” Sed grumbled, “would you please not encourage him? He’s bad enough already.”
She glanced from Sed to Eric, and her smile faltered. “That was not funny, Eric,” she said seriously. She turned her head so no one but Eric could see her expression. “Yeah, it was,” she whispered.
Eric grinned. “Are you going to eat any of that?” He pointed at her plate with his fork.
Her appetite had already returned. “Yeah. Making me laugh won’t earn extra food from me.”
The guys around the table had already finished their food and were picking at Brian’s. Rebekah couldn’t blame them. The roast was tender and juicy. The flavor rich and savory. It was one of the best meals she’d ever cooked.
“Hey, what’s that?” Eric pointed to the back of the bus.
While her attention was elsewhere, Eric attempted to steal from her plate. Her hard stare stopped him with his fork hovering millimeters from one of her potatoes. “Busted.”
“You’re just picking at it, and it’s so good,” he said. “I wouldn’t want it to go to waste. Can’t I have just a little bite?”
She considered him for a moment. She really didn’t mind sharing, but he was so fun to tease. “How about a trade?”
“I don’t have anything you want.”
He had plenty she wanted, but she didn’t want to be too greedy. “Foot massage.”
“For one potato?” He shook his head. “That’s worth a bite of roast, two potatoes, and a carrot. At least.”
“You’re a master negotiator. You’d better do a good job.” She fed him off her plate, knowing there was no way she could possibly eat it all anyway, but hey, she got a foot massage from the man with the magic hands out of the deal. She was definitely getting the better end of this bargain.
He chewed each bite slowly, as if trying to avoid his task.
When he’d finished, she continued to eat and he rose to put his empty plate in the sink. Returning a moment later, he knelt on the floor at her feet. He took her socked foot in both hands and looked up at her. Their eyes met and her heart began to race. When his uninjured thumb rubbed her instep with just the right amount of pressure, she moaned.
Eric got a strange look on his face, lowered his nose to her foot, and took a hesitant sniff. “Jeez, woman, are you trying to kill me?”
“My feet do not stink,” she said indignantly.
“Must be the sock.” He stripped it from her foot and tossed it aside.