Page 1

Chapter 1

Logan

“I won’t lie,” Preston said as he appeared in the open doorway of my office, “when Shane told me you’d picked the kids up for me, I had a moment of panic.”

I smirked and leaned back in my seat, steepling my fingers over my stomach. “Awe, you didn’t think Uncle Logan could handle the job of two kids?” I dramatically draped my hand over my heart and pouted. “I’m wounded, Preston.”

Axel looked up from his coloring book and waved at his daddy before going back to coloring. Felix, Axel’s little brother, had fallen asleep shortly after I’d picked them up from school and hadn’t woken since. Even now, he was snoring lightly on the small loveseat that was situated across from my desk, my leather jacket covering him to act as a blanket.

Preston rolled his eyes. “No. You just don’t usually take kid duty alone unless someone is holding you at knife point.”

He wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t that I didn’t like kids. Kids could be cool. And I liked Axel and Felix, the brothers Shane, Preston, and X had adopted, just fine. They were good kids. A bit traumatized, but hell, I could relate to that.

It was just… kids freaked me out, especially when someone expected me to take care of them on my own. I hadn’t had a proper upbringing. The only positive parenting experience I had was Jaxon, and fuck, I didn’t even get that until I was fucking nineteen. What the fuck did I know about kids? And hell, I was so screwed up, I was terrified I’d screw them up, too.

But when Preston’s hurried message came through the group chat, asking someone to get the kids from school because they were having really bad days and lashing out, and everyone else had something going on that they couldn’t cancel, it came down to me. I wasn’t doing anything but paperwork anyway, which I fucking hated. So, I’d sucked it the fuck up, went to the elementary school, and picked the boys up. We got McDonald’s because they hadn’t had lunch yet, and then, I brought them back here until one of their parents could pick them up.

“I’m not that dramatic,” I huffed.

He snorted. “You actually are. But thanks anyway. I really mean it. I would’ve picked them up, but there was an emergency at work.”

“This is what family is for, right?” I questioned. “Or well, that’s what Jaxon is always drilling into my fucking skull.”

Preston sighed heavily at my cursing. He’d tried to get all of us to not curse around the kids, but honestly, that was hard as fuck. Cursing was my first language, English my second.

“Have they eaten?” Preston asked.

“Uncle Logan took us to Mickey D’s!” Axel exclaimed excitedly. “I even got a toy, Daddy!” He held up his little plastic toy that I knew would probably break in a week, if that. Axel was rough with toys, and fast-food restaurants were known to give out cheaply made ones.

Preston smiled at him. “I see, sweetheart.” He ruffled his hair. “Did you eat all of your food like a big boy?”

Axel nodded. “Yep! Uncle Logan promised to take us racing if I did, so I ate all my food! Didn’t even leave a crumb!”

Preston shot me an accusatory look. I mimed shock, despite the dread I suddenly felt filling my gut. “I did not,” I gasped. “I said we would go fast. That’s all.”

“I swear…” Preston muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They’re going to have stomach aches later from all the grease.”

Okay, that actually made me feel like shit. “Sorry, man.”

Preston shook his head. “No, no. It’s fine. Not your fault. You didn’t know, and it’s the first time you’ve ever had to watch them by yourself. I’ll get them some medicine. No biggie.”

His no biggie still didn’t make me feel any better. It just made me feel worse. He was brushing off something I should have known. I ate garbage food all the time, so I’d just assumed it was alright to give to little kids.

See? What the fuck did I know about kids?

“Thank you for watching them, Logan. I really do mean that. Next time though, just… don’t go speeding with them?”

I laughed softly. “We didn’t even go that fast, Preston. I swear. We went like ten over the speed limit. It only felt like racing to them because of how I was shifting. That’s it. I would never put your kids in danger.”

His expression softened, and he smiled. “Thank you.”

“Hey, boss, we’ve got an irate customer out here,” one of the mechanics, Leo, said, popping his head into my office. “She’s raging, man.”

I groaned and stood, clapping a hand to Preston’s shoulder. “Anytime you need a hand, just holler.”

He smiled. “Yeah, you too. We’ll be out of your hair in a couple of minutes.”

“No rush,” I assured him as I headed out of the office. “Bye, Axel!” I called.