Page 11 of Unwritten Rules

“Well, at least you won’t cramp my style, then. After all, someone needs to have all that filthy wedding sex that Caden, Beau, and the rest of Misdirection keep harping on about.”

And without another word, that damn Hellcat swishes out of the bathroom in a blaze of pink while I attempt to convince myself that her sex life is none of my concern.

* * *

Once I’ve righted myself somewhat, I step from the shower as my phone begins to ring from my bedside table.

I cross the space, grabbing a towel from the rack as I go and quickly scrub it through my dripping hair. When I reach the phone, my stomach dips.

I’d forgotten Henry and Caden had scheduled a video call. Usually, I love nothing as much as catching up with the boys, but my wayward thoughts alongside that dream make me feel like a child with my hand caught in the cookie jar.

But even with these guilty thoughts, I reach out, hitting the answer button anyway. At the end of the day, these wankers are my family.

Their faces fill my screen, and my eyes land on Henry first. He’s in a town car, en-route to work, judging by the hour. His face breaks into a grin when he sees my current state of undress – his mind immediately defaults to debauchery.

“Bad time, Nate?”

My lips twitch even as I narrow my eyes in mock annoyance. “Get fucked, DeMarco.”

“Hey, watch your language, man! Little ears are present.”

My eyes drop down the split-screen to find a frowning Caden with a beaming Bella on his lap, her mass of blonde curls bigger than her entire body.

“Uncie Nate, you say a bad word!”

She slaps her hand over her mouth, eyes wide as saucers, before breaking into a fit of laughter.

“Come on, Bug. It’s time to brush those pearly whites.”

A grinning Cade ruffles his daughter’s hair before turning back to the screen. “I’ll be back in a second once I’ve handed Bella Bug over to the nanny.”

The last we see of a still-giggling Bella is her bare feet when a chuckling Caden tosses her over his shoulder. Then, the duo disappears from our screens in search of whatever nanny his pain-in-the-ass wife Layla hasn’t managed to scare away yet.

My eyes return to Henry, an easy smile on his face – something wholly thanks to his wife.

“You look like the cat who got the cream.”

He grins wolfishly, his eyes flaring dramatically. “You would, too, if you had a hot, pregnant wife who just can’t get enough of your rock-hard—”

“For fuck’s sake, man. Forget about Bella’s little ears; mine don’t need to hear that shit!”

Henry’s deep chuckle puts a wry grin on my face.

Fuck, I miss this wanker. Even the other idiot!

“Okay, I’m back, fuckers.”

Cade plonks himself back in front of the camera, pushing his blonde hair back from his face. “What’d I miss?”

I snort, about to tell him exactly what he’s missed, but Henry beats me to it, all signs of mirth gone.

“Right, you two. Peaches has informed me that I need to host a damn barbecue for the gang this weekend. Something about not seeing you guys in months, considering prick number one has buggered off writing a new album and prick number two fucked off to faff about as some sort of toff professor – she may not have used those words exclusively, but you get the drift, yeah?”

Shit.

“Mila tells me she’s nesting….”

I can feel my face freeze at the mere mention of her name. Henry’s words are a hum in my ear, the racing cadence of my own heart drowning out all other noise entirely.