Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Nate lost his grin, casting me an inquisitive look.
This was dark Logan.
We were in Fallen Crest. We’d lost our dad. He remembered how shitty some of the other grandparents were, and he’d been reminded about his daughter.
Logan and Taylor were shattered when they lost her.
Two years later, Sammy came along, and it was as if he’d gotten his soul, plus his older sister’s soul as well. His personality burst out of him, and sometimes, they could only contain him enough to keep him safe. He was a lot.
He’d been staying with Malinda and David this last week. Taylor had been able to sleep, which she said every day she was thankful about. That usually came up around the time she was readying herself for when they’d come to the house.
The front door would burst open and Sammy would tear into the house. “Mommy!”
It was the same entrance every morning. No walking. No skipping. No jogging. A full-on sprint. He’d barrel right at her.
He’d grasp her hips for a quick hug, and then he was off, looking for his next victim. Thank God his cousins all doted on him, as that kid was nuts. I was his godparent. I should’ve been nicer about him, but nope. The kid was nuts. Funny, but nuts.
I loved catching his arrivals whenever I could. Malinda didn’t understand why I asked her to alert me when they were on the way over, but I never wanted to miss the moment Sammy entered the household.
I couldn’t wait to see what he was like as he got older. Logan was fucked.
The door burst open again. It was Channing this time. He gave us all a look, jerking his chin. “Stop hiding. Kids are crying, and your wives need time off. Let’s go.” He didn’t wait around, striding off.
There was a momentary pause before Nate began laughing.
Logan exhaled, grinning slightly. “What the fuck was that?”
Nate stood up, grinning at the two of us. “I feel like we got caught sneaking booze by our dad. I’m suddenly fourteen again.”
Logan looked down at his lap. “I feel like I just got caught watching porn, and not the good kind. The raunchy shit.”
“Dude,” I said.
Nate went for the door. “I don’t even want to understand where that came from. I’m out.”
“That’s because your daughters are angels,” I called. “They do nothing wrong, and they want to save animals and the planet.”
Nate tipped his head back before he disappeared into the hallway. “Not Lilac. She’s focused on gymnastics already. I think she’s going to be an athlete. See you out there.”
Logan tilted his head to the side. “Can’t she be both?” He looked my way for the answer.
“Fuck if I know. They’re not my daughters.”
His scowl was immediate. “You’re supposed to know everything.” He walked around me, bent down, and picked up the bourbon.
I whisked it out of his hands. “I know enough to know that if you keep drinking this shit, you’ll be sleeping instead of going on a little mission I want to take tonight.”
“Mission?” he asked.
I ignored him, leaving.
“Mason!” he called after me. “What mission?”
“Stop fucking drinking and you’ll find out,” I tossed over my shoulder.
“You’ve been drinking.”
I didn’t enjoy getting buzzed or drunk, and he knew that.
When I got to the main floor, I heard someone screaming at the top of their lungs. “IF YOU DON’T PUT THAT SNAKE DOWN RIGHT NOW, I’M GOING TO BRING OUT MY PYTHON. SNAKES SHOULD NOT BE AROUND LITTLE KIDS.”
For fuck’s sakes. Who brought snakes to this house?
I made an amendment to our mission tonight. First order of business was finding all the snakes and getting them the fuck out of my house.
Someone else screamed, “IT’S GOING FOR HAROLD!”
15
SAMANTHA
The guys had taken over caring for the kids once we got back from the funeral, which had been great. Mason and Logan were hurting, and when they hurt, everyone felt it. The kids too. They had needed that time with their fathers. When the guys showed up and stayed, it gave the group a sense of peace they’d been needing. That had spread to the wives as well.
It had done nothing to ease Mason’s pain.
I knew that, and I felt it when I walked into our bedroom that night. He wasn’t going to do a goddamn thing about it. He was just shouldering it all right now. He walked out of the closet, dressed all in black. Black henley. Black jeans. Black boots.
I frowned. “Where are you going?”
He paused. Dark desire pulsed in his eyes, and his jaw clenched. He raked a hand over his face. “Logan’s about to combust.”
I sighed. “Taylor said the same thing.”
“She did?”
I nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed. All the kids were in bed. Not sure if they were sleeping—that was a different issue to tackle—but we’d gotten the last one put away. The girls were planning on sitting around the back patio, maybe having a few drinks tonight, but nothing like last night at Manny’s. “He’s not putting it on her because of her pregnancy. Taylor’s tough. But he’s in—”