“She’s married, buddy,” Clay growls from behind as he comes stomping down the driveway with the rest of the men, all looking displeased with the newcomers. He wraps his arm around Morgan’s waist and brings her to his chest.
Jessie chuckles and lifts his hands in surrender. “Sorry, man. No harm meant.” He looks at all of us with that charming smile, watching Silas put a protective arm around Cecilia’s neck while holding his son’s hand. Greyson comes to my side, dropping Gracie in my arms as she exclaims,“MAMA!”and places his hand on my hip. Then to Noah and Gabe who stand behind Ronnie and Aubrey without touching them.
“Ah, so that leaves you two lovely ladies,” Jessie says, eyes flicking from Ronnie to Aubrey.
“Don’t even look at her, she’s not for you,” Grey tells him harshly when he notices Jessie checking Aubrey out.
Julian speaks up with a snicker. “Yes, we are all very aware that the little Aubrey is… unavailable.”
Grey’s brows scrunch up as he looks at Julian with confusion. “What’s that supposed to—”
“Gentlemen, please. Can we all act like grown civil men here?” Shane speaks up quickly, knowing this conversation was going into dangerous territory. Aubrey, who was tensed and blushing like crazy, now relaxes and breathes out silently.
“Wait, why is Coach here?” Gabe asks suddenly.
“They’re friends,” Ronnie informs him.
“You’re Julian Storm, and you two must be Jason and Jessie. You’re on the guest donor list for the gala this weekend if I’m not mistaken,” Silas speaks up next, nodding his head in their direction.
“That would be correct,” Julian answers.
“Oh, so that means you’ll all be present Saturday?” Jessie says excitedly, then winks at Ronnie, showing off his dazzling smile. “Save me a dance?”
“Maybe I will,” she replies with a flirty tone.
Gabe and Noah look from Jessie to Ronnie with fury in their eyes. Noah quickly scoops Ronnie up, throwing her over his shoulder, then turns on his feet and marches up toward the house as she laughs incredulously.
Gabe points at Jessie with a scowl. “She’s taken. Back off.” He turns and follows Noah.
“No, I’m not!” Ronnie shouts back, making all of us girls laugh.
Dante suddenly manages to escape Silas’s grasp and runs over to Shane with his famous tiny hockey stick. “Key! Key! Key!” He holds up the stick to him.
Shane crouches down in front of Dante, ruffling his hair with a heartwarming smile. “Hey, little man. You all ready to come play hockey with us?”
“KEY!!” Dante exclaims louder once he hears his favorite word.This little one is definitely his father’s son.
When I look at Aubrey, I find her watching Shane in a way that would raise a lot of questions if her brother noticed. If you looked up the words ‘in love’, you’d find a picture of Aubrey’s face in this instance.
Wanting to catch her attention without calling her out, I clear my throat. “I think we should head inside and let poor Oscar leave the driveway now that his duties are done,” I add when Inotice the gentleman waiting patiently by his car and offer him an apologetic smile.
“Yes, we must be going as well. Gentlemen, ladies, it was a pleasure making your acquaintances. Aubrey, until next time.” Julian then turns and strides across the street.
Jason and Jessie both wish us goodbye, leaving Shane behind. He stands from the ground, lightly pushing Dante back toward his parents. “Right. Well, boys, I’ll see you all tomorrow morning. Ladies, always a pleasure.”
His eyes travel over all of us until they land on Aubrey. And instantly, they both get lost in each other’s gaze, clearly smitten.Jesus, I’m trying to help these two out, and now they’re staring at each other like long-lost lovers. Make it more obvious, why don’t you!
“Bye, Shane!” I say gleefully while shooting him big eyes that say,“Get the fuck out of here!”
He finally snaps out of it, eyes falling on mine, then to the man beside me. He straightens, smiles, and walks away.
Once they’ve all entered the house and we’ve moved out of the way to let Oscar leave, I turn and find Greyson watching the house across the street with an expression I can’t place.
“I don’t like the way he looked at her,” he finally speaks up when he notices me watching him.
My heart stops in my chest.Oh God, please tell me he didn’t pick up on that…I swallow and try to speak in the most clueless tone I can find. “Who?”
“That Julian guy. He kept watching Aubrey. It was pissing me off.”
