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His words doused the flame flickering in my core. Right. And I needed to remember that.
Blondie: OMG. Did you see the design for the sign? We just got it. Gi crushed it.
Blondie: Picture of the puffin house sign
Me: Yeah I told you she’s talented
Blondie: It’s just so cute. I love the puffins. The zoo wants her to redo the signs for the other houses.
Me: Good. If they pay her enough, maybe she can quit that crappy job
Blondie: Stop being a grump. She might love it.
Me: She hates everything
Blondie: GIF of an eye roll
“This sign is freaking amazing.”Kyle tilted his head back and surveyed the puffin and the penguin. The birds stood back-to-back, with the Boston skyline behind them. Gianna had incorporated a baseball in front of the puffin and a hockey puck in front of the penguin. “I legit can’t believe she drew it.”
“Ya ever seen Dragon draw?” Emerson, who was standing beside me, slapped my arm.
Kyle turned to me and shook his head.
“He’s pretty damn good,” Emerson said, “but she’s a million times better.”
“I keep telling her that. And Avery raved about it.” I took in the colorful sign again. I’d seen it several times, but mounted here, it looked even more incredible, and it fit perfectly with the zoo.
Gianna wasn’t as excited with the results as I expected her to be, and I’d yet to figure out why.
A small group of zoo employees squeezed past us.
“Who are we waiting for? My dick’s going to freeze off, and you know how much the women of Boston would suffer if that happened.” Kyle held his fist up like he expected one of us to pound it.
With ahumph, I took a step back, and beside me, Emerson shook his head.
Kyle dropped his hand and huffed a laugh. “Rough crowd.”
“We’re just waiting on Mason, and he’s coming now.” Emerson tilted his chin to the center fielder who was heading our way.
“Why are we outside?” Mason asked as he approached us where we stood in front of the black glass building that was Puff’s new home.
The structure was modern and looked almost like black ice. Not that Puff cared about the outside appearance, but I was sure the little guy would be happy here.
“Where’s Avery?” he added as he, too, assessed the new building.
“She has a lot to coordinate. Balloon animals and snacks and all kinds of other fun stuff, but when she was over last night, she said she’d be around and promised to say hi. I can’t wait to help the clowns with the balloons.” Emerson was all but bouncing up and down beside me. The extreme anticipation that was bubbling out of him over the idea of balloon animals was baffling. The man acted like he was four years old. Though I supposed I should be used to it by now. It was very on-brand for Bambi.
“Ooh, Avery was at your house last night?” Mason waggled his brows. “Like for a sleepover?”
“Why do you insist on acting like a child?” I scowled at him. With Emerson, Mason, and Kyle here, I felt like I was babysitting. Their maturity levels ranged from the ages five to fifteen.
“Clearly not. If he was getting some, he’d be in a better mood.” Kyle slapped my back. “It’s been what, eleven months now?”
I clenched my fists at my sides, ready to push him off me, when the sound of a throat clearing caught my attention.
Behind Emerson, Cortney and Beckett, both donning their Revs jerseys, appeared. Although they were coming as part of the team, the word was that they were bringing their families with them, yet they were alone.
“Eleven months for what?” Beckett took each of us in, his expression as intense as always.
