“Even if we ended up bringing all the guys?” she says.
I laugh. “Bode didn’t want to leave them out.”
Harper shakes her head as Sadie comes over to us. “Can we all play together?”
“Yes.” She sets Jamie down on the floor next to Caleb. Now that he is crawling, we have baby gates set up in the living room to try and keep him contained. But with him pulling himself up, it’s only a matter of time before he starts walking. “Just make sure they don’t put anything they shouldn’t in their mouths.”
She nods and drops down onto the ground next to her siblings and Caleb. Watching Caleb’s fascination with them is sweet. It was like this at the hockey game.
Harper links her arm through mine and pulls me into the kitchen. “I cannot wait until they are old enough to babysit.”
Looking behind me, the two of them are pulling toys out and holding them out to the boys. “Think they’d want to come babysit Caleb?”
“Gladly.”
All of the guys are in the kitchen, and my nerves are kicking in. These guys are like Bode’s second family.
“I think it’s time I officially introduce you all to Stevie.”
“It’s nice to actually meet you.” Jasper sticks his hand out for me to shake. “Can’t believe you like this idiot.”
“Hey!” Bode scoffs.
I cough in my arm to cover my laugh. “I think he’s a keeper.”
“Jasper, be nice,” Dax chides, pulling the cork on the bottle of wine and pouring a few glasses. “You don’t want to scare her away.”
“Like you saying that is any better?” Noah smacks him on the back of his head. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
“I’m Noah’s boyfriend, Graham.”
“Hi.”
I don’t think I’ve ever been surrounded by so many attractive men before, but none of them hold a candle to Bode.
“I hope you guys want burgers, because I bought enough to feed a small army,” Bode tells them.
“Sounds good to me,” Jasper tells him, grabbing a beer from the fridge. I take one of the wine glasses from Dax.
“Why don’t you go start dinner?” Harper asks them.
“Can’t we visit before?” Marcus asks.
“No,” she says matter-of-factly. “You see each other almost every day. Go talk outside. I want to talk about you guys with Stevie.”
I blush as they all balk.
“Shoo,” Harper commands and they all obey immediately. Bode grabs the plate of burgers and heads outside, sending a wink my way.
“We’ll be back.” Marcus drops a kiss to her lips and follows the rest of the guys outside.
The low sounds of a cartoon drift into the kitchen with the giggles of the kids. With them entertained, Harper wastes no time bringing up the elephant in the room caused by the news breaking of me and Bode being together.
“Bode says you’re having a hard time with things.”
I blow out a breath, pulling my sweater tighter around my front. “I swear, hockey players are bigger gossips than my Nan.”
