I roll my eyes. “So, I think I just… I think Nash and Poppy are messing around.”
“Really?” He’s walking a little faster than normal, causing me to double my pace to keep up with his long legs.
“Zan, like sleeping together.”
“Well, I didn’t think you meant they were wrestling.”
“They are, but in a bed during the day!” I draw back as though this is juicy gossip, but he’s busy staring through the little plastic window of the stroller.
“Thought they hated each other.”
Finally, he’s in on this gossip. “It’s complicated. Nash is Jensen’s best friend. It would be like Lottie sleeping with Beau.”
He twists his head in my direction as though that’s the most absurd thought. “What? Brooks would be hella pissed at you for making that comparison.”
“Whoa.” I hold up my hands. “It was so you could understand. I love Brooks, and Beau… I mean, he’s not ready to settle down yet…” I wave. “Anyway, I want to talk about Nash and Poppy. Her hair was—” I motion with my hands to indicate that it was all over the place. “And he was doing up his pants. Do you think they’re just friends with benefits or something more?—”
“They’ll tell us if they want us to know.”
I stop walking and look at Zander as he continues to walk away. “That’s not the way gossip works in this family. Have you not learned that yet?”
We walk the short path, me arguing with him about how he needs to be just as invested in the fact that Nash and Poppy are messing around and speculating on how Jensen will feel if he finds out his best friend is sleeping with his sister.
When we get to Mom and Dad’s, everyone’s already gathered outside, so I have to shut up about it. I don’t need to warn Zander because he doesn’t seem to care.
Mom comes off the porch and picks up Rhodes.
“I think he’s cold, Darla,” Zander says.
“He’s fine,” I mouth, but my mom coos at Rhodes and takes him inside.
“You’re gonna have to let the kid live a little.” I arch an eyebrow at Zander.
Wren and Leia run over and ask Zander to twirl them around, which he goes out to the grass and does without objection.
I sit down next to my dad. Lottie is on Brooks’s lap. Mack’s at Beau’s feet, probably recuperating from whatever workout Wren and Leia just gave him. Bennett and Delaney are inspecting the flower boxes, his hand on her back.
My mom comes out to hand me Rhodes, but Lottie snatches him up as Mom says, “I put him in a warmer onesie.”
“You said it was my turn,” Brooks argues as Lottie stands and walks away with Rhodes.
“Fifteen minutes,” Lottie says, nuzzling her head into Rhodes’s.
“Is this how it will be when our baby arrives?” Brooks asks us.
“No. When she has one all to herself night and day, she’s going to be happy to pass them off to you, Brooks,” my mom says.
“Just so you know, I’m the number one uncle,” Beau says before sipping his beer.
I laugh at Beau and Brooks, going back and forth over who’s the better uncle.
My mom walks over and hands me a large roll of paper. “A present for our peach.”
“Um… thanks.” I frown, having no idea what this is about.
“Don’t thank me. Thank him.” She nods toward Zander.
He stops spinning the girls, and Bennett calls them over. Zander walks up to the porch. He actually looks nervous, which is odd for him.
