My brother is still manning the grill when I approach, beer in hand. “There you are!” he says with a laugh. “I was beginning to wonder what happened to you.”
“Oh, I met someone,” I tell him, keeping my voice nonchalant.
He freezes in the middle of popping off the bottle’s cap and narrows his eyes at me. “What do you mean? Where?”
With a casual shrug, I take a sip of water as I look past him at Lori, who’s sneaking up behind him and trying hard not to giggle. “This cute woman at the drinks table. We really hit it off. In fact…”
Kevin’s face falls and suddenly he looks like he’s eight again, disappointed because I’ve told him what I bought him for his birthday and ruined the surprise. “Nik!” he whines, dragging my name out into two syllables. “This whole cookout was so you could meet the
