I step back and turn to the side. “G, this is Leo.”
“Nice to meet you,” Leo says, sticking his hand out for him to shake.
Gerald gives it a hearty shake. “You too.” He drops Leo’s hand and slings an arm around my shoulders, leading us into the house. “Mind your manners in that car!” he yells at Lucas and Landon.
“Yes, sir!” they yell back in unison, and I can’t suppress the smile. They look so much happier since they’ve been with these guys.
“How’s that going?” I ask when we step into the door, kicking our shoes off.
“Like I told you, they’re good kids,” he replies, leading us to the living room, where Boone gives me the same bear hug before ushering us to sit on the loveseat.
“What about Playboy?” I ask, tucking myself under Leo’s arm on the back of the couch; he lets it drop and pulls me closer. G and Boone exchange a quick look over the action.
“He’s doing better now. Doc came over and gave him something to help with withdrawals,” Boone answers leaning back on the couch. “You going to tell us who he is?”
“All I know is his street name is Playboy, and he’s a confidential informant,” I tell them and brace myself for what I have to say next. “For Zane.”
Boone sits up again, fast. “Zeus’s boy Zane?”
Leo tightens his arm in support. “Yeah. I couldn’t let him go back to Zane and tell him what he saw at Xander’s garage last night.”
“Gage told us what happened. He just failed to mention how the fuck he came across Playboy,” Gerald says, leveling me with a look that says he isn’t happy.
I shrug. “I did what I had to do, G.”
He sighs and sits back. “I know, Lessie, but fucking Zane?”
I nod. “I know it’s not ideal, but I was hoping to talk to him, maybe flip him to our side.”
“You can try,” Boone says, “But he’s not really with it. Why don’t we chat outside until he wakes up?” he finishes, and I don’t miss his hidden meaning. He wants to talk to me alone, and I feel like I’m in trouble with my dad.
I look at Leo, and he smiles. “I’ll be fine.”
I squeeze his thigh before standing up and following Boone through the back of the house. He pulls open the backdoor, holding it for me to walk outside. I love this part of the house. It’s surrounded by flowers and has a man-made pond in the middle that Gerald did himself. I sit on the bench beside the pond and watch the coy fishswim around.
Boone slides onto the bench beside me. “Please don’t tell me you’re thinking about getting back with Zane.”
Gerald and Boone found out about my secret relationship with Zane when it was almost over. My dad sent them to find me one night when I didn’t answer my phone, and they caught me leaving Zane’s apartment. They said they had their suspicions anyway, so they took a shot looking for me there.
“I’m not,” I tell him. “I have enough guys in my life.”
“That young man in there?” he asks, putting the connection together before I have to say anything.
I breathe a laugh. “One of them.”
I can see his head jerk toward me from the corner of my eye. “Come again?”
“He’s one of them,” I answer and turn toward him, unashamed of where my love life has taken me. “With Ryder, Gage, Dex, and Holden”
His eyes widen. “Damn. I saw you and Ryder happening a mile away, maybe even Gage. But I didn’t see this coming.”
“I didn’t either,” I tell him honestly, “but I’m glad it did.”
“You deserve to be happy, Lessie. It’s what your dad would have wanted,” Boone says, causing tears to spring into my eyes at the mention of my dad. He wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.
“I miss him,” I whisper.
“I do too. He would be proud of you.”
