Silver and Aella manned the drinks, shooing away every underage kid that tried to sneak the alcohol meant for the adults.
Baker and Dru were next to the grill that Webber and Doc were manning, holding out platters as the men piled high burgers, brats, and hot dogs.
Searcy was bent down talking to the horde of children—some grown, some not so grown—running wild through the backyard.
Sutton, Copper, and Audric were hanging up streamers.
Then there was my husband, who was standing off to the side, watching the chaos, as his family chattered along next to him.
Sophia’s husband, Haggard, was grinning at whatever his wife was saying to her brother.
And, like always, my feet carried me toward the man of my dreams.
I could be gone for twenty minutes, and my feet would still carry me his way.
He turned his head as if he could sense me coming and winked when he saw me.
He held out his arm, and I expertly curled myself underneath his arm and burrowed close.
“You’re wearing my sweatshirt again, and it’s eighty degrees out.”
I was.
But I had a secret, and I didn’t want to announce it to the entire club on Anders’s special day.
I’d been trying to keep it a secret for longer, hoping that my first pregnancy would be like everyone else’s and hide it until I was pretty far along. But the child in my womb had laughed and said, “I will not be denied.”
The doctor had said that I was carrying in the front, and the way the placenta was positioned made me look bigger than I actually was. Pairing that with my thinness, and I had no hope of hiding it.
Twelve weeks was enough to make me appear at least five months pregnant.
Jasper’s hand slipped up underneath the sweatshirt, and he rubbed lightly against my belly.
Our son danced inside my belly. It felt like a flutter of butterflies.
And though Jasper couldn’t feel it yet, he pressed harder as if he could sense it.
“Get a room.”
I looked over to see my big brother, Koda, walking up with a woman on his arm.
The newest girl who had caught his fancy.
“I haven’t seen him in days,” I said. “And he’s not doing anything inappropriate.”
“Yet.” Koda winked at me. “Calli, I want you to meet Ginger.”
Ginger held out her hand to me, and I didn’t miss the eight-inch-long fingernails.
My brows rose, but I took the hand.
She gave me a delicate squeeze, and I wanted to laugh.
Jesus, was my brother in for a rude awakening.
The girl looked like she fell right out of Vogue.
Meanwhile, he was the grunt of the Air Force, and liked it that way. Rough, dirty, and tough. There was nothing my big brother couldn’t do.
