“Thank you,” I murmured, turning to watch his handsome profile as he watched the road intently.
He turned to look at me briefly, his eyes soft. “For what?”
“Where do I start?” I smiled tenderly, reaching over to stroke his bearded jaw. I decided to settle on the easiest answer. “For everything.”
He lifted my hand to kiss my knuckles. “Always, baby.”
“Always,” I agreed.
Despite everything, I felt like the luckiest girl in the whole world.
Chapter 20
“Did you, uh, cook the eggs?” Ry asked cautiously the next morning. I’d wanted to cook breakfast for the guys but my culinary skills still required some practice evidently.
“Yeah, why?” I asked, leaning over to look at my handiwork on their plates. Maddox babbled in my arms and I moved him to my other hip. He was getting so big.
The eggs did look slightly runny, but last time I’d overcooked them.
Dammit.
Axel shot him a glare but Ryker threw up his hands in reply. “Dude, I know she’s your wife and I love her like a sister, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let her poison me!”
I rolled my eyes, shoving a box of cereal at him and tried not to take it personally when Axel was the first to reach for it.
He pulled me over so I stood between his muscular thighs with Maddox cradled in my arms. “You wanna start on Mad’s room today?” His eyes burned with an intensity that was now familiar but no less butterfly-inducing.
“Yeah,” I agreed softly.
He tweaked the rings on my left hand and grinned. “That’s good, babe. I think I’ll even have another set of hands with this knucklehead.” He hooked a thumb in Ry’s direction.
“Great,” Ry muttered as he shoved a huge bite of cereal into his mouth.
As it turned out, we had more help than we needed. Sal and Cole stopped by to check on things and stayed to help dismantle the office. Scarlet and Connie offered to stay with Mad and Gracie while Kat and I went into town to buy some new things for the nursery with Mack and Wes in tow.
The image of Wes and Mack folding their big bodies into the rocking chairs at the front of the children’s store while we shopped would be permanently burned into my mind. Perfect material for whenever I’d need a quick laugh – for the next twenty years.
“What are you guys going to do for Thanksgiving?” Kat asked as we sifted through racks of baby clothes. We’d picked out the furniture for the room relatively quickly and had soon grown distracted with the tiny clothing for Kat’s little one.
I grimaced. “Well, if I wanted to punish Ax, I could cook.” I hadn’t given the holiday much thought despite it being just a few weeks away.
She laughed. “Well, I think Scar is planning to host. You guys should come. Invite Jill.”
“I’ll talk to her,” I nodded.
“I’ll make sure Cal is coming.” She winked as though I was in on the secret.
My brows knit with confusion. “Why would you do that?”
She looked at me with wide eyes. “He’s sweet on her,” she replied as though I were daft.
“I didn’t notice,” I admitted, embarrassed at how little attention I’d obviously been paying my best friend. Clearly, I needed to rectify that. “She’s going through some stuff; I don’t know if…” I trailed off.
“He knows,” she interjected with assurance.
How?
“I’ve been a terrible friend,” I shook my head with a grimace.
