kinda want you to cook for them.”
“They what?”
Vincent shot me a grin as he led me up the front steps. “What can I say? Your mac and cheese won them over.”
Chapter Sixteen
Vincent
The look of annoyance on Dylan’s face made me burst out laughing.
His scowl only deepened and he folded his arms across his chest, not impressed that I wasn’t taking him seriously. “It’s really not funny, Vin. Estella was my friend first and now everyone wants to be friends with her.”
Goat started laughing as well and clapped Dylan on the back. “God, you’re a possessive bastard, Dil. Already trying to keep her all to yourself.”
There was loud bang, and we all jumped. Estella had slammed a large jar down on the kitchen table and was glaring at Goat. “Put a dollar in the jar!”
Goat stared at her, startled. “W-what?”
“Put a dollar in the jar! I’m sick of you guys swearing in front of Dylan!” She placed both hands on her hips to show she wasn’t messing around. She was pissed.
Goat looked at me for help, but I shrugged. “You heard her.” A smile crept onto my face as Goat caved, pulling out his wallet and placing a dollar bill into the jar.
“Shit. She’s scary,” he said to me in a low voice, “I wouldn’t wanna get on the wrong side of her.”
Estella spun around, shoving the jar in front of Goat’s guilty face. “I heard that!”
The guys started laughing as Goat groaned and dropped another dollar bill into the jar. Estella somehow managed to glare at everyone in the room. “Let that be a warning to the rest of you. You swear, you put a dollar in the jar.” Her glare ended on me and she gave me a pointed look as if I was the one to blame for all this.
Normally, a woman talking to me like that would’ve pissed me off—Sarah had definitely done a good job of pissing me off last night—but Estella didn’t have that effect on me. As stupid and lame as it sounded, I was in absolute awe of her, especially after the way she’d handled herself around the boys last week and tonight.
It seemed so natural for her to fall into this role of taking charge and taking care of everyone. Warmth just radiated from her and made everyone want to be close to her. The guys had willingly volunteered to help her cook and were now trying to find enough plates and forks for everyone.
My home had never felt more like a home. And, it was all because of Estella.
There was nothing I wanted to do more than sweep her up in my arms and plant a kiss on the pout that filled her lips. I’d wanted to kiss her so bad when she’d been sitting on bike, but I’d made myself stop before I did something stupid.
Shit. I shouldn’t even be thinking about her like that. Estella was off limits to everyone, including me.
But as I watched her walk back over the stove where she was getting Topher and Three to stir the large pot of chili, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d somehow managed to creep into every part of me without me even noticing.
“I’m not finished talking to you,” Dylan said, still scowling at me.
“Huh?” I’d almost forgotten that my kid brother was standing there, thoroughly annoyed with me.
“Estella was my secret,” Dylan said, not looking impressed that I hadn’t been paying attention to him.
“Okay, I’m sorry, Kid,” I said, feigning defeat. “But you know what? Secrets should be shared. Especially good ones.”
Dylan still didn’t seem convinced, but before he could argue with me, Tyson strolled into the kitchen, a grin plastered across his face. “What the fuck is that amazing smell? I’m fucking hungry!”
He was still dressed in his boxers and his hair was a mess. It was six o’clock in the afternoon and the asshole had just gotten out of bed.
“Chili,” Cohen said. “Estella cooked.”
“You want?” Riley asked, as he searched for plates and bowls.
“Fuck yeah!” Tyson said, walking over to where I stood with Dylan and Goat.
“Three dollars,” I said, pointing to where Estella stood with the jar in hand.
“What the fuck? I have to pay to eat in my own house?” Tyson stared around at Estella, not realizing that he’d just added another dollar to his swear debt.
“Swear jar,” Goat responded. “And you owe four dollars now.”
“What the f—“ Tyson caught himself before he spewed another expletive. Then he patted his boxers, frowning. He looked around at Goat sheepishly. “Can I get a loan?”
Muttering under his breath, Goat pulled out a five dollar bill and put it in the jar. Estella gave him a confused look. “I only needed four dollars. Do you want change?”
“Hold on.” Goat turned to Tyson and shot him a glare. “You owe me, asshole.”
Estella’s hand shot to her mouth, and she gasped, and the guys started cracking up at the entire situation. Goat turned back to her with a winning smile. “I don’t think I’ll be needing that change.”
“Can we eat now?” Three said from where he was still standing by the stove. “I’m fuc-fluttering hungry!”
“Yeah, I’m so fingering hungry, too,” Hudson chimed in.
“Riley, give us some motherfloating plates already,” West said, grinning at Estella who was shooting everyone looks of disapproval.
Finally, she sighed in defeat and placed the jar down on the counter before busying herself with serving everyone a bowl or plate of chili herself. Once we all grabbed a plateful of food—Estella had cooked some rice too—we all found a place to sit. Some of the guys sat on the floor, others preferred to stand. Estella, Tyson, Dylan, and me sat at the kitchen table, and there was silence all round as everyone stuffed their faces.
I noticed Estella glance around, a look of disbelief filling her face, before her eye caught mine and she gave me a small smile. Even when she started eating, I continued watching her, because there was nothing else in this room that my eyes would rather look at than her.
It was hard to explain exactly why I was looking at her. Let’s just call it interest. Yeah, that was the word. She was interesting. There were no other feelings involved aside from interest. I kept telling myself that as I finally lowered my gaze and stuffed a spoonful of chili and rice into my mouth.
“This is sooo good,” Todd declared, finishing first. He glanced over at Estella expectantly. “Can I have seconds?”
“Sure you can.” Estella was beaming, her features lit up, making her even more beautiful than she already was. I wanted to freeze that smile and take it with me everywhere. “I’m so glad you like it. Does anyone else want seconds?”
“Yes!” the guys chorused together.
Estella stood up, refilled plates, handed out drinks, and once everyone had finished eating, she ordered West and Three to do the dishes while she helped Dylan with his homework.
The rest of us went outside to smoke so that Estella could tutor Dylan in peace. The first thing the guys had to say to me was how amazing Estella was. They’d met her twice now and she was obviously making a good impression on them.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask you before; are you with her?” Topher asked, leaning against my truck.
“Nah,” I said, and some pathetic part of me hated that I wasn’t. She wasn’t a quick fuck; she was the kind of girl who came into your life and completely changed it.
“She’s fucking gorgeous,” Todd said, as though I didn’t already know.
“But what’s with the old lady clothes?” Cohen wanted to know. “She always dress like that, Vin?”
I nodded, taking a long drag of my cigarette, letting the smoke settle around my insides. “Yeah, I dunno why she dresses like that.”
“Who cares?” Riley said, pulling out a flask from the pocket of his jacket and taking a swig before passing it
