Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Both boys were wearing pajamas and matching expressions of concentration, and for some mysterious reason, they had icing around their mouths.
“Did you hear about Tate’s prank for Master Kingsley?” Corey asked quietly.
“Oh my God, I know,” Kit replied just as quietly. “He was gonna put it in his stocking, right?”
I cocked my head.
“Yeah.” Corey finished applying icing to another cookie and slid it onto a tray at the center of the island. “And then Shay’s Secret Santa gift to—you know what I mean.”
The boys snickered and sent me a couple furtive glances.
I kept my smirk on the inside.
Luke gave me a coffee mug. “Regression and brat scheming isn’t the best combination.”
Ha! I’ll say.
The boys were cute as fuck, but they couldn’t fool anyone if they were in the middle of regressing for our day together. At that point, hide-and-seek would involve a round of peekaboo under the “if I can’t see you, you can’t see me” premise.
“Ba-ba-ba!” The toddler provided her input too.
Corey looked up from his work and grinned at the girl. “Your daddies will be here soon, Kyla.”
That made Kyla laugh.
Babies…
I took a sip of my coffee and reached out, poking the little girl’s chubby cheek. Best fucking thing about those little ones, wasn’t it? The thick thighs and chubby cheeks. With that said, my sister had never appreciated my calling my niece chunky monkey.
The girl stared at me.
“What did he do, sweetie?” Sloan smiled.
“C’mere,” I said. “Lemme get acquainted with our li’l mascot.”
“Kids love Daddy,” Kit supplied helpfully.
“Everybody loves me, little darlin’.” I accepted the chunky monkey into my arms and kissed her cheek. “Hey, you. Maybe you can tell my baby sister to hurry up on cookin’ her bun.”
Kyla babbled excitedly and gestured between the boys and me.
In the meantime, Sloan rounded the island to help Corey mix more icing, and yeah, maybe I checked out his ass a little bit. Kit was onto something. Luke and Sloan shared a few features. Maybe Sloan was more rough around the edges. He had the rocker vibe going with tats and piercings.
The kitchen filled with the smell of eggs and bacon, and my stomach rumbled with hunger. At the same time, Kyla started bouncing on my thighs as a new Christmas song began playing in the background.
“Aw, you like the country Christmas music too, don’t you?” I poked her nose. “That’s a good girl. Yeah, it’s a great tune, innit?”
It was a good time to hear Greer and Archie coming down the stairs because my breakfast was almost done.
Their arrival set the kitchen in motion for a couple minutes, where everyone was talking at once. Greer stole the girl from me, Archie snuggled up with Sloan and promised Corey to keep an eye out for something he wanted for snacks later, Kit threw a hissy fit when he didn’t get the jet design right on the cookie, Luke served me my breakfast, and then the doorbell rang.
I shut it all out and ate in silence. Bacon was perfect, eggs were perfect, coffee was even better.
“Is that Reese, Daddy?” Kit demanded.
That was a Luke-Daddy. Not a Colt-Daddy.
“I don’t know. Go see, please,” Luke replied.
“It could be my sister,” Archie said. He’d taken over Kyla by now, and they were on their way out. “Okay, just remember, dinner at Corey’s place at six—”
“We agreed to call it our city place, Archie!” Corey complained. “Since you shut down the Game Cave idea that Jason and I had.”
Greer chuckled and kissed the top of Corey’s head.
“We’re not calling our second home the Game Cave,” Archie grated out. “Bloody hell, it’s bad enough we eat so much takeout there.”
I grinned around a mouthful of bacon. It was an interesting dynamic, that one. To my understanding, Greer’s farmhouse outside of Winchester was their primary home, but since Sloan’s kids weren’t starting school out there till after the holidays, they had frequent sleepovers at Corey’s condo in Arlington, which was just a few blocks away from the kids’ schools and day care.
“Excuse me for not prioritizing a big kitchen when I bought the place for myself, a single, little person.” Corey rolled his eyes.
“You’re excused, my love.” Archie finished the conversation with a kiss to Corey’s cheek and a, “Have fun today, guys. And I’ll see you again tomorrow, Kit.”
“Yeah, okay—bye, Archie!” Kit waved. “Thank you for bringing the cookies!”
Greer walked them out, and I assumed it wasn’t Reese at the door since nobody came in.
“Can I just say, Archie’s eyes are like freakin’ stunning?” Kit said quietly.
“I know, right?” Corey was in total agreement. “It’s like, you look at him and can’t look away. Even when he’s being a poophead.”
I smirked into my coffee mug and finished the last of it.
Our boy was sure as shit having himself a gander.
But after my run with Greer, something had changed within me. I started seeing possibilities instead of worries. And it made sense, I reckoned. I had to go through the worry phase first. Luke had pointed out more than once that when I had something to lose, I tightened my hold before I could be talked into relaxing. I’d done the same with him.