“That would be great. If you have time, you might want to make the trip to Vegas while you’re out that way. Nora and I are heading to New York, and Glinda and Lawrence, you’re taking the Midwest locations, is that correct?”

“What about me?” Skylar asks.

“We need you here to keep an eye on things.”

“Or I could go to Vegas with Matthew and Maddy. Why do they get to go to all the fun places and I have to hang out here?”

“We can discuss it after dinner, sweetheart,” Lawrence says with a practiced smile.

My parents shift the discussion to which big stars are hiring them for catering over the holidays—it’s always a particularly busy time for them—and it’s like name-dropping central.

“You’ve met Daxton Hughes? That teen actor who became an entertainment lawyer?” Ronan dabs at his mouth before he continues. “My ex in high school used to be in love with him.”

“I have a crush on him now,” my mother replies with a grin.

“He hit on me,” Skylar adds.

“No, honey, you hit on him. It was me he was hitting on.” Gran-Gran Calloway winks in my direction.

The rest of dinner is spent listening to Gran-Gran tell stories about all the famous people she’s met over her lifetime.

Buster brings in the cupcakes I made on a special platter, and of course my mom, aunt, cousin, and sister all have their special keto-friendly dessert brought out. It looks like some kind of chocolate thing served with three berries and a mint leaf, which are on the approved carb list, I guess.

“You’re not going to have one of Blaire’s cupcakes?” Ronan looks dumbfounded. I’d like to say it’s an innocent question, but based on his expression and his tone, it’s not.

I don’t know why he’s so annoyed on my behalf, but I can’t say I don’t appreciate it.

“Too many carbs and far too much sugar. Sugar is more addictive than cocaine, you know,” Skylar says haughtily.

“You would know,” I mutter.

“Well, at least I can’t end up with a deviated septum or psychosis on account of my sugar consumption,” Ronan replies and then asks Buster for one of each cupcake flavor.

Ronan proceeds to inhale all of them while making noises that sound a lot like the ones I’d hear were he naked and I was riding him. And now that image is in my head.

I start to wonder if maybe the ink on his arms spans his back, and possibly his chest as well. In my mind, I decorate the rest of his right arm in more, pretty flowers and the left side in an expansive landscape.

His exuberance seems to compel my mother to fold. She peels the wrapper off, wipes her hands on her napkin and daintily uses her fork to take the tiniest bite. Her eyes go wide, and she blinks several times. “Oh, this is heavenly. Lawrence, did you try this one? You really must.”

My aunt also folds and offers to share a cupcake with my dad, who has polished off three already, based on the stack of discarded wrappers.

Skylar is watching Ronan devour cupcakes like it’s porn. And honestly, so am I.

When he’s finished the last cupcake, he sucks the icing off his fingers—loudly—and turns his gaze on me. His eyes are half-mast, making it look like he’s recently had an orgasm. The effects of a sugar rush, the crash soon to follow.

His brows rise. “Everything okay?”

I can’t even imagine what my expression must be. “Did you enjoy those?”

He grins. “Immensely. The only cupcake I enjoyed more was the one you made me eat in front of those women at the bachelorette party.”

I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks and his grin widens. I will never forget how he looked biting into the vagina cake. Or the way the custard center dribbled down his chin. We’re still staring at each other, possibly both lost in that memory.

The stare-off ends when my mother asks what kind of cupcakes they are, and of course she and my father decide to guess the ingredients, arguing about the merits of cooked versus uncooked buttercream.

While this takes place, Skylar keeps edging closer to Ronan, which means he keeps edging closer to me. At this point, his arm is draped over the back of my chair, and he’s halfway into my lap. It’s kind of funny and also highly distracting because every once in a while his fingers graze the back of my neck and I have to fight off a shiver.

I’m still nibbling my way through my own cupcake, savoring instead of devouring. Despite the fact that Maddy and Skylar refused to try one, there are none left. I’m pretty sure my dad ate half a dozen.

“If you don’t hurry up and finish that, I’m stealing it,” Ronan whispers, warm breath fanning across my cheek.

“Try it and I’ll stab you with my fork.” I slide another small bite between my lips and mmm my delight.

I can feel his eyes on me. He’s so close, if I turn my head there’s a good chance we’ll be brushing noses again. “You’ve got icing on your lip.”

I lick them self-consciously and lean away so I can turn my head and make eye contact—the kind that should signal him to back off. “All gone?”

“Nope. Still there.”

I raise my napkin with the intent of wiping my face, because there’s nothing more embarrassing than having icing on my face, but he covers my hand with his. “I’ll get it for you.”

“Really, I can do it myself.” Now I’m embarrassed because my entire family is watching and Ronan seems oblivious to all the attention. Or maybe this is on purpose.

“Really, I got it.” He’s right in my personal space, his grin full of villainous mirth. Which I finally understand when he licks the corner of my mouth.

A hot feeling shoots down my spine to settle between my legs. He freezes, his eyes wide, likely with the same shock I’m currently experiencing because Ronan just licked my face. I don’t understand why he looks so horrified since he’s the one who licked me and not the other way around.

“What the hell, Ronan?” I swat his chest and wipe his saliva from the corner of my mouth.

He recovers, expression returning to that same mirthful deviousness. “Hold on. I didn’t get it all.” He leans in again and I put my hands on his chest, trying to keep him at bay. I honestly have no idea what his plan is, or why he’s being so damn flirty.

He backs off as quickly as he tried to attack me, his grin ridiculously wide as he pops what’s left of my cupcake into his mouth.

“You jerk!”

“Oh my gosh, you two are so freaking cute. Aren’t they the cutest?” Maddy claps excitedly, reminding me that we are not alone. In fact, my entire family is watching this display with rapt interest.

Except Skylar. Her arms are crossed over her chest and she’s pouting. “You should probably get a room,” she says.

“Maybe you two need another bathroom quickie.” Maddy’s smirking. Of course she was just waiting for the opportunity to draw attention to our disappearance right before dinner.

Skylar looks scandalized. “Ew! You did not.”

Ronan wipes his mouth with his napkin and swallows the rest of my cupcake. “I prefer to take my time and savor the experience when it comes to anything that has to do with Blaire, apart from her cupcakes.” He takes my hand in his.

I try to yank mine free, but he tightens his grip and brings it to his lips, biting my knuckle with another one of his mischievous grins.