Mom groaned. “I didn’t invite you here to work, I swear.”
“Fuck it.” Ren peeled his long-sleeved shirt off, leaving him in a skintight white undershirt that made my mouth water. “Let’s do this.”
He was trying to torture me.
Mom gave me wide eyes, then glanced back at him with a saucy smile, and I groaned. Well, that officially ruined the semi that had been brewing in my boxers.
Time flew by as we painted and talked. Mom brought us drinks and sandwiches. As we were finishing up the final touches, I realized she’d been gone for a while, but we’d been so focused on the job it hadn’t really registered.
We all sat our asses on the floor and took in the vista of baby blue with pink sparkles that gleamed at us from every angle.
“I guess she thought this covered all the bases.” Ren nudged me with his elbow.
“It’s very Mom.” I gave him a tired grin.
KC went timber, and I smiled down at him as he nestled his head into my lap. “I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t tell us about your mom and the baby because of me.” Now that the work was done, his brain was spinning again.
I brushed my hand through his pretty red hair and fought back a wave of emotions. “I just don’t want the baby to be messed up about Dad like I was.”
Ren tugged on one of my curls. “We’ll be here. It’ll be okay.”
“You aren’t going to run home to LA?” I swatted at him.
“Nah. I’m staying.”
Tears did their best to escape, but I wiped them away with the back of my hand.
“Me too,” KC whispered.
“Promise?”
They both grunted tiredly, and all I could do was chuckle. This had been the weirdest and best Christmas Eve ever.
“There were stockings with our names on them hanging on the mantel. Did she really get us presents?” KC asked, sounding wistful.
“Oh yeah! I’m sure she did. Let’s go find her. She’ll let us open them.”
“Really?” KC sat up in a flash, his tiredness long gone.
“Yep,” I said, already missing his weight against my body.
He hopped to his feet and rushed out into the living room.
All I could do was snicker as I let Ren peel me off the floor. Yes, this was the weirdest, best Christmas Eveever.
22
REN
Christmas came and went, and January showed her face with the kind of winter storm that shut down the city. She was a bitch, but January and I never got along.
A new year was all about new beginnings, but I didn’t believe in that shit. Especially when I was a kid, the extended holiday season came with parties and more parties with uptight rich people who thought fun was “jetting off to Paris for the new Balenciaga fashion show.” I’d never fit in with my parents’ world, but neither had Luke. Maybe that was why I’d always connected with him.
Until I didn’t.
It was strange to be hanging around with him again. It was even stranger knowing he was practically KC’s stepdad, though he acted like his dad. When he found out KC had been benched, Luke raised hell. Even threatened to get the Kings involved until Quain put a stop to Luke’s antics. But it was nice to know he cared about my boyfriend. Actually, he was a father figure to both of them.
Which was why when I’d called him ten minutes ago from my seat behind the counter at Revenge Tattoo and asked him to punch Cain, he’d taken a moment to seriously consider it.
