I smooth my hand over Skyla’s back. “Does a part of you regret bringing Kateback?”
“No. She’s glad she’s here.I’mglad she’s here, and Nat is super happy to have her back, if only for awhile.”
“I’m in that number, Messenger,” Lex calls from behind the camera as she snapsaway.
Skyla gives my shoe a light tap with her foot. “I said take it off,Oliver.”
A sly grin crawls up one side of my face because it sounded dirty, and my balls drink down the naughty implications even if there weren’tany.
I do as I’m told, and Lex moves the five of us out onto the front lawn. Skyla sits next to me in the damp grass with Angel on her lap while I hold the boys, and my stomach starts to boil with a slight undercurrent of panic. Actually, when I mentioned to Skyla that Lex wanted to take a family picture of us with the baby I hadn’t really thought about including the boys—but, of course, we’re including the boys because they’re family—they’re Skyla’s children, and mine by proxy. But I’ve got a nagging feeling this is a very bad idea, and just as I’m about to hem and haw my way through a list of reasons that perhaps we should reconsider, a big black truck pulls into the driveway and Gage hopsout.
Perfect. And here’s reason number one through one hundred as to why this whole family pictorial just went to hell in a Lexy-shapedhandbasket.
Gage loses his grin in slow motion as he takes in the scene. “What’s goingon?”
Skyla closes her eyes a moment because I’m betting she’s just surmised this was perhaps a very shitty idea to beginwith.
I’m not Skyla’s husband. And it was never my intent to kick Gage to the curb—behind his back, no less. All I wanted was a picture of Angel, and this morphed into something it was never intended to be. Thank God Almighty we opted out ofnudes.
“We’re in the middle of family pictures, Gage,” Lex grouses. “Get out of the way. You’re in theshot!”
Shit. I close my eyes and try to will us out of this uncomfortablesituation.
“Logan, look this way!” Lex sings. “Everybody sayhappy littlefamily!”
“Wow.” Gage gargles out a dark laugh as he sits on the porch. “Glad I didn’t miss the show.” His dimples dig in deep, and I can tell he’s eating up our discomfort, but the dude has got to behurt.
“Okay”—Lex flicks her finger at us—“go ahead and get naked, and we’ll stick a boy between each of your legs. Skyla, you’ve got small tits. Just pull your hair over your shoulders and set the girls up high. We’ll start there before we get to thedogpile.”
“Oh no, we won’t.” Skyla hops up with Angel, and I do the same with Barron. “Gage Oliver, I am sorry.” She rolls her eyes. “I swear I thought this was just for the kids,” she pleads with all of the sorrow she can muster. “And, of course, Logan and Angel.” She bites down so hard on her bottom lip it grows bonewhite.
“I know.” He gives her a quick peck on the lips. “I wanted to come with you, but I had to stop off at themorgue.”
“Come on, Skyla.” Lex tries to lure her back to the lawn with a tip of the chin. “Just you and thekids.”
“Sounds good.” I land Barron next to Nathan and head back over to Gage, where I plan to grovel for his forgiveness for the rest of my disputablelife.
Skyla happily piles the kids on her lap while Angel takes each of the boys by the hair and gives a good yank initiating a riot within five secondsflat.
“That’s the money shot! Can they cry any louder?” Lex howls with a laugh while Skyla does her best to get the unrest to stop. “If murder was legal, we’d all be smothered to death asinfants!”
Gage ticks his brows up my way and bucks with a quiet laugh. “Lexy Bakova is going to make a fantasticmother.”
“I agree.” I glance her way as she snaps at the kids to pull it together. “Sorry about the circus, dude.” I shrug over at him as he lands those riotously blue eyes my way with a brief moment of judgment. “It sort of got out ofhand.”
“Don’t be. Skyla let me in on it this morning. I think it’s a good thing. They grow fast. You want to remember it all.” There’s a palpable sadness veiled in his features, a tangible despondency as if someone justdied.
“Hey, everything okay?” I give his shoulder a quick pat as if to perk him up. I’ve been around Gage long enough to read him like a book, and no matter what he says, I know it’s anything butokay.
“I’m great.” He frowns at the construction site across the street as the crew drags in concrete mixers and steel beams to start on the new and improved bowling alley. They’ve already laid the foundation, and now all I have to do is sit back and watch that monster put itself back together again. “I only stayed at the morgue a minute.” His jawline redefines itself as he continues to glare across the street. “I had to meet with Wes. He wants to know how I plan on getting the Spectators back to their near human state since not even Ezrina could promise themthat.”
It feels like a punch in the gut just listening to him. I’ve always wondered how quickly he would end up over his head, and now Iknow.
“We’ll talk to Ezrina. She’sdownstairs.”
He nods as if acknowledging this. “I told Wes he needs to haul them back to Tenebrous. Skyla will have to let them in. He’s going to put a call out this afternoon to round themup.”
“And he’s listening to you?” I’m amazed that Wesley would take one of his prized arsenals and remove them from the playingfield.
