As soon as he’d parked, I climbed off the motorcycle, trying to hide the way my hands shook. We’d made it in one piece, and he hadn’t done a single thing to make me think that we wouldn’t.
“Hey,” he said, following me as I stepped out of his way. His hands caught me, pushing mine away so he could take off the helmet. “You good?”
“I’m fine.” I looked past him through the sea of parked cars, wondering where the kids were.
“Teddy,” he murmured, drawing me closer. When our eyes met, he cursed. “You afraid of the bike?”
“Mike had one for a while,” I explained vaguely. I’d tried my best to put those memories behind me, and I didn’t want to relive the ways he’d terrorized me with it. Thankfully, Curtis seemed to understand, because he just gave a short nod and leaned over to set the helmet on his Harley. When he turned back toward me, it looked like he was going to say something, but his mouth snapped shut as he looked over my shoulder.
“About time,” a man’s voice called from behind me just as the kids came into view. Jesse was holding Finn’s hand and carrying the pasta salad I’d completely forgotten.
“Hey,” Curtis replied as I turned to look at the man coming toward us. He was older, and his coloring was different, but there was no mistaking that he was Curtis and Draco’s dad. The man was as big as his sons and just as ripped. “Dad, this is Teddy.”
“Teddy,” he greeted with a smile. “Cam. You probably don’t remember, but we’ve met.”
“Sorry,” I murmured, shaking my head as he grasped my hand and gave it a squeeze.
“You were just a little thing,” he explained, lowering his other hand to below his hip. “With huge brown eyes. Looked like a doll.”
I let out a startled laugh. I couldn’t remember anyone ever describing me as doll-like. I’d spent most of my childhood covered in dirt from head to toe from wrestling around with my brothers.
“Mom,” Finn said excitedly as the kids reached us. “Dylan let me shift gears.”
My head jerked to look at Dylan.
“Just into park,” Dylan explained. “Hey, Gramps.”
“Hey, bud,” Cam replied, reaching out to slap Dylan’s shoulders. “And who’s this?”
“These are my kids,” I said, trying not to stiffen as Curtis slid his arm around my shoulders. It was going to be a day of public displays of affection, and I needed to get my shit together. “Jesse and Finn.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Cam said seriously. “You can call me Gramps, like this one does.”
“Hey,” Jesse said with a nod.
“Are you Curtis’s dad?” Finn asked, his head tilted way back to look at Cam.
“I am.”
“You look like him,” Finn announced.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Jesse said under their breath.
Cam laughed as we started toward the large grassy area full of picnic tables and people. There was a row of barbecues and tables weighed down with food along the side of the building, lawn chairs scattered around, and groups of kids running wild through it all.
“Relax,” Curtis murmured into my ear, his lips brushing my jaw.
I nodded. It was all pretend. It didn’t matter if these people liked us.
“Mom, where should I put this?” Jesse asked.
“Oh, I’ll show you,” an older woman said kindly as we passed her. She smiled at Jesse and patted them on the back as she led them toward the tables. “I’m Molly.”
Jesse’s gaze shot to me, and they widened their eyes as they walked away.
“Molly’s Will’s,” Cam explained, making absolutely no sense at all.
We’d barely entered the crowd when I abruptly lost Curtis’s arm around my shoulders. I jerked to a stop and turned toward him, only to find that a blonde woman had jumped onto his back. Her arms were wrapped around his neck like she was trying to put him in a headlock, and her knees were bent, her thighs gripping his sides.
