I like those odds.
Kemper takes a deep breath, puffing it out slowly, just staring, eyes locked with mine. Eventually, he peeks at the dog. “What do you think about this, son?”
Sobaka barks and rushes him. In an instant, he’s jumping around, tail wagging, nuzzling Daddy, and I just have to laugh.
“Hmm… he’s on your side,” Kemper grumbles teasingly. “What else is new?”
I shrug, toning down my grin.
Kemper bends to pat Dog, letting him lick his face all over. “Yea, you say that now… Just wait until we have to leave you for God knows how long.”
I gulp down the nerves trying to climb up my throat.Shit, I hadn’t thought of that.
“I’m not saying I’m not scared,” I tell Kellan as he stands, sliding his hands onto my lower back to pull me into him. “I definitely am. But I’mmoreconfident in us. And our friends. Regardless of what’s happening there,together, I know we can handle it.”
His mouth quirks at the corner. “I love how determined you are right now, Luscious. If for no other reason than that… Let’s fuckin’ do this.”
“Hell yea!” I cheer.
Sobaka barks. Kellan laughs.
“Looks like we’re going back to New York.” He grins.
“Alexa, playEmpire State of Mind.”
What is even happening right now?
I’ve gotta say, when I wrapped my head around the notion of returning to Alabaster Isle to check on my friends and potentially fight The Ivory, I definitely didn’t anticipatethisbeing a pivotal step in the plan—one somehow stranger and more nerve racking than taking on the cartel.
Kellan and I are in Long Island. Babylon, to be specific. At the home of his ex-wife and her new husband, which also happens to be the same house she and my fiancé once shared.
Yea, no. I didn’t have this one on my Bingo card.
Mild awkwardness aside, Nikki is a great person. Kind, down-to-earth, and just as beautiful as I remember, though it was only last year that we met… When I stole her husband.
Oops. My bad.
Cue Cher from Clueless GIF.
In anything, Nikki ismorebeautiful now, being that she’s a new mother. Apparently, she gave birth to little Julian Francis Tedisco only six weeks ago, which makes sense, given how tiny he is. Granted, she did tell us he decided to show up two weeks early.
“The little guy just couldn’t wait to get out here and start living,” Justin—Nikki’s new husband, and the father of this adorable little peanut who, thank the lord, isnotKellan’s—chuckles, delivering a couple cans of Coke to me and Kemper while we sit, stiffly, on the couch in their living room.
Kemper’s smile is melting from forced into genuinely happy for his ex because it’s just so glaringly obvious that everything worked out for the best.
“He’s so stinkin cute,” I marvel at the baby in Nikki’s arms. “And quiet.”
“We’re lucky,” Nikki says.
Despite her claiming to be exhausted from the stress of new motherhood, she still has a glow to her.
Call it the bliss of things finally falling into place.
“I really am so happy for you, Nik,” Kemper croons, and she returns the smile, gazing down at her bundle of joy. He glances at Justin. “Both of you. Or… the three of you, I should say.”
“Please, I’m happy foryou,” she beams, at both of us.
I’m grinning up a storm, taking Kemper’s hand in mine and squeezing it. His palms are sweaty as hell, and he’s taking a large sip of Coke to pull focus from the flush in his cheeks.It’s fully adorable.
