Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“Expert level one thousand,” Kent said. “You like her?”
I knew what he was asking.
I hesitated, wondering if I should share the depth of my feelings with the man that might very well punch me in the face for defiling his beloved sister-in-law…fuck it.
“I love her.”
Doc inhaled sharply.
Koda grinned. “That right?”
“That’s right,” I confirmed.
“You can handle her?”
I really did laugh then, startling the baby I was holding.
He started to let out a wail of a cry, but I soothed him back to calm before saying, “I don’t think anyone handles Calliope, man. But I’m definitely going to be along for the ride. And be damn happy about it.”
“Let’s eat!”
We all filed into the kitchen that had a huge spread in it.
“Why’d you buy this much food?” Kent asked. “Damn.”
“I figured more people would show, but the weather’s being a tit.”
“Tit!” Pane bellowed. “Tit! Tittttt!”
Searcy sighed.
“Guess he could be saying titty,” Doc muttered under his breath.
“Titty!” Pane bellowed.
Doc covered his mouth with his hand and closed his eyes.
My guess was to hide his mirth.
Searcy didn’t bother to try to hide.
She just let out a giggle.
“Pane Bowen Hicks,” Calli scolded the young boy. “We do not say those kinds of words.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because you have to be an adult to say them,” she said. “Remember what I said about adult words?”
Calli and Pane continued to talk in a language that I had a hard time following.
The group sat down and started to eat.
Searcy offered to take her son, but I waved her off to allow her and Doc to wrangle Cassidy and Pane.
Though, Pane tended to gravitate to his aunt and made no effort to hide how much he loved her more than the rest of them.
“I swear,” Koda said. “She’s seriously the kid whisperer.”
“Remember how Searcy had to work for hours to get us to bed.” Kent chuckled. “And all Calliope had to do was glare at us and we’d be good?”
“That was called fear,” Koda said. “Searcy would give you a thousand chances. Calliope gave you one then set you very straight.”
“That’s true,” Kent said as he reached for the stack of pancakes. “Jesus, what the hell are we going to do with all these leftovers?”
Doc did me a solid and piled food onto my plate, allowing me to eat while still hanging onto his kid.
All the while, I couldn’t take my eyes off of Calli.
Hours passed, and more and more people showed.
First it was Cutter with Milena, sans their kids who’d stayed behind with their brother, Shasha, and his wife.
Audric and Creole were next, followed shortly by Gunner, Lottie, Sutton, and their newest little one.
Copper came sans wife, but he had his adopted son with him.
“Baker’s under the weather.” He smiled. “She could barely get out of the house today. Everything was making her sick to her stomach. The laundry detergent. The smell of leftover bacon. The cab of my truck. We decided that she needed a break.”
Webber and Silver showed as well, though they’d come right on the heels of Chevy and Aella.
They’d all spilled into Searcy’s huge house, and everything was going great.
Until the men had learned that Calli and I were a thing.
Then I’d been hauled outside to “explain” myself and get the third degree.
I’d been out on the deck with the group of men that I called brothers for a solid twenty minutes, and was smiling huge when I looked through the window and saw Calli filling up a glass of wine to the very brim.
She took a hefty swallow and met my gaze through the plate-glass window.
The kids shrieked away in the backyard, laughing and playing in the melting snow like there was no tomorrow.
“You can give me my kid back when you’re ready,” Doc said.
I’d had the kid in my arms for a solid five hours now, only putting him down to change his diaper and then wrap him up in a blanket to head outside with the men.
“I’m good.” I grinned.
“They won’t punch you in the face with an infant in your arms,” Koda drawled.
I looked at the man and winked. “Why do you think Searcy’s let me keep him? She likes me.”
“Searcy’s drowning.” Koda looked at Doc. “You should probably hold off on knocking her up again. She needs a break.”
“I know it.” Doc let his eyes drift to his wife.
Just as he said it, a bull bellowed in the background and Doc narrowed his eyes at the big beast. “God, I wish I could eat him.”
“Searcy wouldn’t let you.” Cutter limped over from where he was leaning against the railing. “Why don’t you look broken right now?”
“Because I work out,” I lied.
I was dying.
My legs were killing me.
But I’d been hiding weakness for nearly a decade now. A little—a lot—leg soreness wouldn’t stop me.
“Whatever.” Cutter continued to limp inside. “I need to go find a comfortable chair. When are we eating dinner? Are we watching y’all open your gifts?”