Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
I smile down at him and ruffle his hair. He’s going to be stoked on Christmas morning when we tell him he gets to go.
“Maybe she’s just trying to be a good mom,” Liam says conversationally.
“She’s the best,” Caleb agrees. “But sometimes she’s too strict.”
“Moms do that,” Hudson agrees. “Hey, Liam, I forgot to tell you, I ran into Bee the other day.”
My eyes fly to Liam, who’s suddenly gone very still. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, she looks great. She just opened that new salad place on Alki Beach. I took my mom there last week, and it was really great. I didn’t realize she’d opened a restaurant. Did you know?”
“No.” He stares down at his paddle, then turns to Caleb. “Hey, buddy, do you want to step in for me? Kick his butt.”
“Sure,” Caleb says and hurries over to take Liam’s paddle. “You’re dead meat, Hud.”
“Yeah right, kid.”
I hurry behind Liam, who’s bounding down the stairs and through the house to the back door.
“Where are you going?” I ask him.
“I just need some air,” he replies as he walks out to the back deck, leans against the railing, and takes in a long, deep breath of chilly, rainy air. “Fuck, that sucker-punched me.”
“I see that.” I shove my hands into my pockets, watching him. “Have you seen Bianca at all in the last couple of years?”
“No.” He shakes his head and pushes his hand through his hair. “She made it pretty clear that we were done, and I’m not one to harass a woman after she says no.”
“But you love her.”
“She was done,” he repeats. “She always talked about opening up a salad place. She has stomach issues and can’t always eat at restaurants. Has to be careful. I’m glad she followed through on that.”
“You should go check it out.”
He shakes his head.
“You live in the fucking neighborhood, Liam. Go check it out and say hello.”
“Listen, I’m fine here, Drew.” He doesn’t look me in the eye, and I know that he wants to be left alone. “I appreciate you wanting to help, but I’ve got this.”
“Yeah, you’ve got it, all right.” I shake my head as my phone pings with a message. Looking down, I frown.
“Who is it?” he asks.
“Lucy. She’s giving me the heads-up that there was some drama with London’s mom tonight. She showed up at the house in the middle of the party.”
“I take it London and her mom aren’t close?”
“No,” I say grimly. “They aren’t. I hope London’s okay. Lucy said they’re starting to wrap things up there, so I might go ahead and take Caleb home.”
“Hey, I like the kid, man. And his mom. And I like how happy you are with them.”
I smile at my best friend and pull him in for a man hug. “Thanks. I like them, too. A lot. They’re mine now.”
“I know.” He nods and offers me a smile. “Don’t fuck up like I did.”
“No one can fuck up that badly…unless they’re you.” He barks out a laugh as I make my way back inside to collect my kid so we can go see to his mother.
“He’s asleep,” London says as she makes her way into the bedroom. While she took Caleb up to bed, I made sure the last couple of aunts got home okay. Uncle Luke came to gather up Natalie and Jules and hauled their drunk asses home.
They were arguing about how many orgasms a woman can have in one night.
I don’t want to think about either one of them having any orgasms.
“He had fun,” I inform her. “Nothing got out of hand. It was a pretty laid-back guys’ night. He might have heard some language, but he assured me that it isn’t anything he hasn’t heard before.”
London laughs and rubs her hands over her face as she sits on the side of the bed. “I’m glad that he had fun. We did, too. I adore the women in your family, Drew. They’re all just amazing. Your aunt Samantha is married to Leo Nash.”
I grin at her. “Yeah, I know.”
“It’s just crazy to me.” She blows out a breath and watches me with tired eyes.
“Want to tell me about the drama?”
One perfect eyebrow lifts. “Who told you?”
“Lucy texted me. Said your mom showed up.”
“Yeah.” She sighs, leans forward, and just rests her face in her hands. “She showed up. Thought she could just join in on the fun and stay here with me.”
“What happened?”
“Before I could do much, Lucy had a suite at the Four Seasons booked, along with dinner in her room because she was hammered, and then she escorted her out to the Uber. And it just occurred to me, why was my mother in an Uber? Why wasn’t she in a black car or a limo?”
“I have no idea. Did she say why she came?”