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Ace tugged Kody away from Ruben and leaned close to whisper, “You were with that pretentious ass for years?”
Kody snorted which, unfortunately, caught his mom’s attention.
“Sweetheart,” she said. “Why don’t you come help me in the kitchen? You, too, Ace.”
“Great,” Kody said under his breath.
“Better than being around your sisters and Mr. Pretentious-Ass.”
Kody looked up at him with a twinkle in his eye. “True. Just don’t tell them that.”
“Ooh. No. Nope. I prefer my head attached.”
“Me, too,” Kody said and pressed a quick kiss to Ace’s lips. “Otherwise, I couldn’t do that.”
“That the only reason?” Ace asked teasingly.
Kody shrugged, taking a step backward.
Ace shook his head and followed when Kody took off running into the kitchen. He caught him right in front of Addy who looked at them with a soft smile as Ace pressed a kiss to the top of Kody’s head. He threw her a wink to which she pretended to swoon.
At least he knew that they had Addy on their side tonight.
Kody
His mom was trying to keep things civil while they ate, asking Ace easy questions, and ignoring her two youngest daughters. His father busied himself by shoving food into his mouth so he wouldn’t have to talk. Smart man.
“So, what actually happened?” Amanda asked, staring at Kody with an expectant look on her face.
He cleared his throat and reached for his glass of water.
“What do you mean?”
“Was there really a shootout?”
He opened his mouth, then closed it with his brows snapping together in confusion. What stumped him about her question was her tone of voice. The past six months, she’d been snippy and every word she’d spoken to him had been with an accusatory attitude, but this? She was softspoken, as if she was almost worried.
“There was,” Ace answered her.
“Were you there?” Amanda asked.
“I was at the bar, and I saw Kody’s truck drive past, then I heard the gunshots and took off toward them. I’ve never been so scared in my whole life,” Ace said.
He was stuck staring at Ace. He almost couldn’t believe Ace had been scared. He’d been so fucking calm and he’d just held Kody when he’d needed him. There was no doubt in his mind about how much Ace loved him. None.
“You drove toward gunshots?” Katelynn asked, and when Kody looked away from Ace, he found her watching him with something soft and almost squishy in her eyes.
“That must’ve been so scary,” Mom said.
Ace shrugged. “It wasn’t my first?”
Kody’s nails biting into his thigh had Ace snapping his mouth shut and throwing Kody a dirty look.
Ace cleared his throat. “It wasn’t my first shootout.”
“Are you a cop?” Olivia asked.
Before Ace could answer, Kody said, “He’s a carpenter.”
