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Oh fuck.
Grace and I break apart immediately, and I look over at my four-year-old niece. “Hey, Kerrigan. What are you doing up?”
“I was thirsty,” she tells me innocently. Only herthsounds more like anfsound.
I move behind the island, so my sweet niece isn’t traumatized by my raging boner while Grace grabs her a juice box. “Here you go, little miss. Do you want me to tuck you in?”
Kerrigan nods her head dramatically and takes Grace’s hand to lead her out of the room.
Yup. I was just cockblocked by a toddler.
Thirty minutes later, when Grace hasn’t come back downstairs, I decide to go on a scouting mission. It doesn’t take long to find her. But unfortunately for me, she’s not in her bed.Hell, she’s not even in mine. Nope. My girl is tucked in next to Kerrigan in a giant princess bed.
Fitting for both of them.
Guess I’m sleeping alone tonight.
GRACE
I’m not sure how long I’ve been in Kerrigan’s bed when a stuffed bunny to the face wakes me. But the mini-Wilder, who’s already stolen a piece of my heart, is sleeping like a little angel—a violent little angel who flips over and kicks my hip as she starfishes across the bed. But she’s still a very cute, violent, little angel.
I take that as my cue and carefully slide out of one bed I don’t belong in and tiptoe down the hall to another.
Ares’s closed door is the one before mine, and my hand hovers over the knob I’m about to open when Bellamy and Caitlin come to a stop at the top of the stairs, clearly drunk. They stumble and laugh, and I quickly yank my hand back and glare at the two of them. “Be quiet. The babies are sleeping.” Then I stare at them when they try not to laugh. “You didn’t drive, did you?”
They both stop in their tracks, and while Caitlin looks caught, Bellamy looks intrigued.
“No, we didn’t drive. Nixon made Hendrix drive everyone home.” She tries to point at me but ends up smacking herself with her purse in the process, then recovers and frowns. “Bossy Nix is kinda hot.”
“Eww.” I try to ignore that thought. “Whatever you say.”
I wait them out to see if they’re going to wake the kids up. Well, that’s my excuse. Really, I need them to go to bed so I can slip into Ares’s room without getting caught. But apparently, Bellamy isn’t as drunk as I originally thought.
“You’re the next room down, Grace. Which one of us had too much to drink?” She laughs it off, but there’s something in her tone.
“Oops. I just woke up and snuck out of Kerrigan’s room. Thanks.” I step back.
Then a devious grin spreads across Caitlin’s face. “I wouldn’t mind accidentally sleeping in Ares’s bed.”
“Hands off my brother.” Bellamy scrunches up her face and pushes Caitlin into their shared bedroom, then stops and watches me like she doesn’t trust me to go to my room.What’s up with that?“Goodnight, Grace.”
Guess that means I’ll be sleeping alone tonight.
The next morning, Everly and I are sitting at the table on the back deck, sipping decaf—which, by the way, tastes like shit on principal alone—when Brynlee walks out with Callen and Maddox. She drops a box of cinnamon rolls on the table and pushes them my way, and Everly and I both stop and stare at her in sync.
“What did you do that you’re bribing me with sweets, Brynnie?” I ask very slowly, afraid of just how bad her answer will be.
“So...” Brynn pulls out a chair and takes her time sitting down.
Apparently, she’s not fast enough for Maddox though. “Listen,”—he grabs a cinnamon roll and takes a bite—“Callen and I are going to swap apartments with Brynn. She doesn’t need all that space anymore, but we could use it. So you’ll be moving into our condo.” He takes another bite and smirks at Brynn. “See? Wasn’t that hard.”
“I’m getting coffee,” Callen groans, and Everly laughs.
“It’s decaf . . .” Everly calls after him.
“Fuck,” he mutters as he disappears into the kitchen.
Meanwhile, I stare, dumbfounded, at Brynlee. My mouth opens and closes like the pretty,non-foodfish Kerrigan wants. “Did you justFriendsus?” I ask, unsure if I’m asking Brynn or Maddox. “Because there’s no way you’d give up that condo for theirs. Is there?”
