Page 86 of Jay Bird

Lily pointed dramatically at her foot.

“Sand!”

He didn’t understand. Of course there was sand on her feet. They were at the beach.

“That’s generally how beaches work, Peanut.”

“Bitch!”

Willow immediately started laughing again.

Jay Bird groaned. “We’re definitely working on that word.”

Lily lifted both arms. “Jay up!”

Jay Bird scooped her up while Willow followed, still laughing.

Lily wrapped one arm around his neck and reached the other toward Willow.

“Momma.”

Willow stepped closer.

For a moment, the three of them stood there together in the fading evening light, Lily between them while the waves rolled gently onto shore.

Jay Bird looked at Willow. She was smiling, Lily was too, and somehow, so was he.

Well, shit. Maybe Derek had been right.

Maybe nothing needed figuring out tonight.

Jay Bird kissed the top of Lily’s head, then caught Willow’s hand with his free one as they started back toward Bayside.

They had agreed on slow. Jay Bird could do slow.

Especially if it meant he got more nights like this along the way.

Derek remained at the railing long after Jay Bird headed down to the beach.

From where he stood, he had a clear view of Willow and Lily near the water. Lily was racing across the sand while Willow chased after her, and Jay Bird was closing the distance between them.

Derek shook his head and took a drink of his beer.

Jay Bird was his last bachelor. Between Alpha and Bravo Teams, every one of the bastards had finally fallen.

Derek wasn’t sure whether he should celebrate or start checking the water supply around Virginia Beach for whatever the hell had gotten into them.

Still, as he watched Jay Bird scoop Lily into his arms, he couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at his mouth.

He was happy for him.

Derek knew more than most about what Jay Bird had lost twelve years ago. He had seen what Amanda’s death had done to him and how learning she had been pregnant had delivered a second blow before he had even recovered from the first. Jay Bird had eventually moved forward, but he had never really opened that part of himself again—until now.

Willow and Lily weren’t replacing what he had lost because nobody could. But somehow, they were bringing warmth back into a part of his life he had convinced himself he no longer needed.

This was fast, sure, but Derek had stopped questioning timelines a long time ago. After all, he’d watched relationships develop within his teams under the most unlikely circumstances. Half these men had met the women they loved while bullets were flying, someone was being kidnapped, or an enemy was actively trying to kill them. Compared to that, this barely seemed unusual.

Apparently normal dating wasn’t covered in SEAL training.