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But she had here and now. And this was her first time being held in her men’s arms like this. Which seemed fitting for the day.
“The truth,” she whispered to herself, a reminder of what she and Hawk had spoken about a few minutes ago. “Today is my birthday.”
Three
“Shit, really? Happy birthday,” Hawk exclaimed, squeezing his arms tighter around Devon. Heaven. It was pure heaven to feel her against him and Cannon. For over a year, he’d longed for this. Which was ironic. Growing up, he’d never envisioned himself where he was now.
Not on a ranch in Wyoming—hell, not anywhere in the American west. Not in the embrace of not one person, but two—his lover and his soon-to-be lover.
The thing was, he hadn’t just relocated to Daly. He’d discovered himself. Riding the range, getting up close with animals that depended on him, being near to the land, protecting the people he loved… He’d learned what made him tick and what was most important to him.
What and more importantly who.
He knew Cannon’s experience was the same. What wasn’t the same was Hawk’s protective side, his vengeful side. Even when he’d been in a gang, years ago, he’d never been so willing to take down an adversary. And maybe, that was something in his blood—a fierce protectiveness and a need to see to the wellbeing of his tribe. Cannon and Devon were his tribe. Nothing could change that, though he hoped their numbers would grow with children someday.
Did Dev even want children? He and Cannon did.
But he was getting way ahead of himself there. Devon hadn’t even consented to be theirs. He wasn’t sure she ever would. Whenever it seemed as if she got close to opening up, softening toward them, she backed away from her feelings.
It frustrated the fuck out of him.
“Yes! Hell, sweetness! Happy birthday,” Cannon chimed in. “We should all take the day off and celebrate your day.”
Hawk snorted, and he felt Devon shake her head at Cannon’s obvious ploy. The spell broken, she disengaged from Hawk’s hold. He stepped back and shoved his hands into his pockets, glad his untucked tee partly hid his immediate reaction to her.
She crossed her arms and turned to glare at Cannon.
“You know I can’t leave Leena in a lurch.”
Cannon pressed his lips together and struggled not to react as Hawk mouthed her words behind her back. They both knew her speech by heart.
She spun on him. “Oh, you think it’s funny?”
He held up his hands. “I think…it’s funny that Cannon doesn’t know better. I mean, of course, you can’t leave Leena hanging on a Wednesday night.”
“Uh-huh.” Disbelief dripped from the syllables, and her eyes narrowed even more, her lips compressing.
“But we also want to celebrate your birthday. We didn’t last year,” Cannon added, words pouring from him in a rush. “It’s only fair. How often do you have a birthday? You made a big deal out of ours and even baked cakes for us, but you never told us when yours is.”
She shook her head, not buying what he was selling. Still, she couldn’t hide her amusement at his speech. It didn’t budge her, though. They were still dragging ass into the diner after he and Cannon had done ranch work at the Last Chance all morning.
“Nice try,” she said, looking back and forth between the two men. “I promise we can celebrate later.”
“Celebrate how?” Cannon pushed.
Hawk rolled his eyes. He loved that man, but what a dumbass. Clearly, this wasn’t the time to push her, even with poorly veiled innuendo.
“And…on that note, get out,” she said, pushing them toward the door. “I have to get dressed for work.” She eyed them. “So do you guys. And Cannon?”
“Yeah?” he asked, ever the hopeful puppy.
She glared down at his boots. “Really? You’re going to tromp a field-worth of dirt through the house?”
“They were still clean. Besides…” He hooked an arm around her neck and pulled her in, planting a kiss on the crown of her head. “I was worried.”
Dev grimaced then glanced over at Hawk. “You called him?”
“Of course, I did. Shit, Dev. He’d kill me if something happened and I didn’t let him know,” he defended.
