Murph.
What’s he doing here? And what has him so panicked?
Joel’s exasperated voice follows his, “Youtold me to come pick you up. And they’re little kids. What’s the worst they can do to you?”
“You say that like we don’t both know what happened to Win last year,” Murph says in a tone of disbelief, as if he can’t believe he has to remind Joel of this.
Win and I grin at each other.
“Ready to save Murph from those terrifying kids?” he asks me, eyes sparkling.
My nausea has passed, so I nod. “Let’s go.”
When we return to the party, Joel and Murph are standing by the snack table, talking. Joel is relaxed. Murph is radiating so much tension that I can feel it as Win and I walk over to join them.
On our way, I look for Ben, relieved he’s happily playing with the kids. I doubt he even noticed I’d gone inside. Nico must be getting ready to bring out the cake. There’s a place cleared at the table that wasn’t there before I rushed to the bathroom.
Murph doesn’t notice us walking over, jumping when I brush up against him. He’s over six-three, stacked with muscles, yet he reacted like someone just whispered boo in his ear.
I blink at him. “Are you okay?”
Russet sweeps over the apples of his cheeks, and he scrubs a hand over his jaw. “Just a little on edge.”
“The kids swarmed him,” Joel says, grinning at me.
Murph glares at Joel. “He told them I build houses, and they rushed me.”
"All the sugar from the cotton candy machine probably has them overexcited,” I say with a reassuring smile, wrapping my arm around his waist. “Are you all right?"
A soft purr of contentment rumbles from his throat. “Not really.” He leans into my touch.
Joel rolls his eyes at Murph. He knows Murph is bullshitting to get me to keep touching him. I know it too, but I leave my arm where it is.
Joel asks me, “Are you okay? Lina said you were green.”
“I’m okay now,” I say, turning to Murph, who's studying me closely. “Promise. I just needed a little time for my stomach to settle somewhere quiet.”
After another searching look, Murph nods.
“I thought you were painting the spare bedroom today,” I say to Murph.
“You and me both,” Win adds, grabbing a juice box from the snack table, comfortable in his horse costume. It has to be hot in it, but you wouldn’t think it to look at him.
I don’t know what happened to the horse’s head part of his costume, but he doesn’t seem concerned about it. Lina or her husband probably took it inside and put it away before the kids could use it as a toy.
Murph shrugs. “I wanted to be here for Ben. And I can work on the house whenever. Though I can’t say I’m relaxed after the incident last year.”
Win stops sipping from the juice box. “Theincident?”
Joel grins. “You know the one he means.”
Win shakes his head. “Jesus. No need to make it sound like an extinction-level event,” he mutters, though his eyes are sparkling with ever-present humor.
Joel bumps his shoulder against Win’s. “We brought a change of clothes in case those feral kids went crazy.” He winks at me as he says it.
“Hey! One of those kids is mine.” Even knowing that Joel is joking, I need to defend my son. He does have a point, though. I glance at Ben, then turn to Win. “Don’t let Ben get on your back now. When he’s this excited, he loses control of his body parts. That includes his bladder.”
Murph watches the kids sprint around the backyard through narrowed eyes. “Yeah, I wouldn’t be letting any of them on your back, Win. These are danger levels of excitement. You are not safe.”
