Noah.
“We’re in here,” Atticus called back.
A moment later, Adam and Noah appeared in the entryway, snow clinging to their coats, cheeks flushed from the cold.
Noah’s brow furrowed as he took in the scene. “This was definitely not theweI expected.” His gaze flicked to Jordan. “Hey, man. Where’s your other half?”
“Huh?” Jordan croaked.
“Matty. Your bestie.”
“Oh, right,” Jordan said quickly. “He’s upstairs with the kids. I’m—uh—I’m gonna go to the kitchen now.”
“Alright…” Noah said, watching him go with a confused look on his face.
The second Jordan disappeared down the hall, Noah rounded on Atticus. “What wasthatall about?”
“I think someone has a crush,” Atticus said, still watching the space Jordan had vacated.
Noah’s eyes lit up. “Tell me it’s on Cree. Please.”
Atticus nodded. “Yeah. He was asking what Cree’s like. What he’s into. That kind of thing.” He paused. “But he already seems to know more about him than most of us do.”
Noah’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit. That means they’ve been texting since Halloween.”
“It does?” Adam asked.
“Yeah, duh,” Noah said, shooting him a look that clearly meantdon’t derail this. Then he turned back to Atticus. “Where’s Cricket? She’s here already, right? Safe?”
“Jericho just took her upstairs,” Atticus said.
“Is she gonna pop this baby out before midnight, you think?” Adam asked, sounding only mildly invested.
“This is her third delivery,” Atticus said. “Her contractions are still fifteen minutes apart, but that doesn’t mean much. Could be six hours. Could be thirty minutes. At this point, her body knows what it’s doing.”
Noah tilted his head suddenly, studying him more closely. “Wait. Did you guysjustget here?”
“Yes,” Atticus said cautiously.
“Then why are you all flushed and sweaty?” Noah asked.
Atticus scoffed. “I’m neither.”
“Oh, no,” Adam said. “Youtotallyare. Lucas said you were already on your way when he called us. Wouldn’t that mean you got here, like… thirty minutes ago?”
“What are you implying?” Atticus asked, his jaw tightening.
“That you let your husband bang you like a snare drum somewhere on the property before you came inside,” Adam said cheerfully. “Or beforehedid, anyway. Pool house? Shed?Coat closet?” He snapped his fingers. “Oh. The garage.”
Atticus felt heat crawl up his neck and into his ears. “You’re just making shit up now.”
Adam grinned wider, clearly pleased with himself.
“Oh, it wastotallythe garage,” Noah said, cackling.
Atticus huffed out a breath through his nose. “It was not.”
“There’s cameras,” Noah reminded him in a sing-song voice, far too pleased with himself.
