“Hey, buddy, you ever just wake up miserable?” I ask Gus as he stares me down, his big pink tongue lolling out of his mouth. “Because today’s one of those days, buddy.”
I scratch between his ears, and swear my damn dog might as well purr, he’s so happy when he plops down next to me. But that’s before he basically does his awkward version of a K9 army crawl to get closer to Kyrie who’s lying on the floor beside my chest. He’s always careful not to get too close, but I’m pretty sure in his mind, he’s her guard dog or maybe she’s his baby. Either way, my lazy bulldog has decided she’s his and he’s keeping her.
Same, buddy. Same.
Baby girl’s got all the men in the house wrapped around her pudgy fingers.
Human and K9 alike.
Kyrie lets out a battle cry as she rolls over to her back, and Gus looks over at me, pretty sure we’re equally shocked. If there were cartoon bubbles above his head, they’d definitely say,holy shit, did you see that?
“Way to go, princess. Look at you go.” I rub her belly excitedly as her legs pump in the air.
Lying on her back, she giggles and grabs her feet, trying to put them in her mouth.
“Was that your first roll? Did I just see your first?—”
“Her first what?” Ashton asks as she walks into the room, a cup of tea in one hand, her phone in the other and that same pale look on her face she’s been sporting all week.
“She just rolled over.” I grin and watch as Gus moves around the happy baby so she’s sandwiched between us. Guess he doesn’t want her to roll away.
Oh shit.
Do I hear?—
I push up to my feet when I’m sure I hear a second set of sniffles. And the gorgeous woman in front of me is sporting a boo-boo lip fit for a toddler, although I’m sure if I told her that now, the honey badger would come out to play. “Are you crying?”
Yeah. . . probably not the right thing to say.
Ashton shakes her head, ignoring the tears she’s fighting to contain as her lip trembles. “Absolutely not,” she squeaks and scoops Kyrie up off the floor, hugging her tightly to her chest. “Fine. Whatever. Yes, I’m crying. Happy now?”
“No. I’m not happy,” I tread carefully, balancing on a fine line. One I’m probably going to fall off at any second. “Did I do something?”
She shakes her head and presses her lips to Kyrie’s face, hiding hers from me.
“Was it Finn or Ryker? I can kick someone’s ass if you need me to. I’m good at that.” What I’m not good at is seeing her upset. She’s breaking my heart. “Tell me why you’re upset and let me fix it.”
“Why would you even want to fix it, Jamie? I’m not your problem.” She looks like she’s about to bolt, so I step in front of her, probably taking my life in my hands.
“Ashton—”
“I know I say arguing is easier, but it really isn’t today.Please...” Her voice trembles. “Not today.”
Fuck.
That’s when it clicks.
Of course we’re both having the same bad day, and I’m definitely an asshole for not thinking of it before now.
Something must have been the final straw to set her off, but this bomb has probably been ticking since she woke up this morning, and the only way I see to save her from it is to fall on it myself.
“I miss him, you know. Him and that stupid fucking strawberry cake he always wanted on his birthday. I fucking hated that cake,” I admit and watch as her eyes close, and her breath catches in her chest for a heartbeat. “You remember the one?”
“From the box,” she murmurs, wiping the tears from her eyes. “We used to make it with my mom when we were in Maryland. She stopped when we moved here and started buying our cakes from Sweet Temptations instead. But Evan just wanted the one from the two-dollar box of cake mix.”
Evan was one of those guys who loved his birthday. It didn’t matter how old he was. He wanted the world to know it was his day. And since he had a giant magnetic personality that drew everyone into his circle, the world always wanted to celebrate with him. But Evan just wanted it to be us. Ashton, Finn, him, and me. He didn’t want his other friends. He didn’t want the rest of my family. He didn’t even want the team. Just us.
“Do you remember the year we tried to make it for him?” I ask, remembering every second of that afternoon. The laughter as Ashton, Finn, and I tried so damn hard to bake that cake.
