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I chuckled. “No doubt. Hey, would you actually mind holding her for a minute? I need to get the charcoal transferred over.”
“Oh, um…” He seemed alarmed as I stood. “Okay, but I’m not usually a baby holder. I don’t know how to…”
Grinning as I remembered the same uncertainty I’d felt the first time they’d placed Ava in my arms a few months ago, I said, “It’s fine. Just sit there and I’ll put her on your lap.”
“Okay.” He bobbed his head nervously and widened his eyes as I drew closer. “She doesn’t bite, right?”
“She doesn’t have teeth,” I assured as I sat her down, sitting her upright and facing her out so she could see, but as Gray closed his arms around her, he awkwardly shifted her until he was holding her like a newborn in the cradle position.
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By the time I had the chimney starter lifted and the kettle opened to dump the heated coals in, Ava was already beginning to fuss.
“Uh, Vaughn?” Gracen called uncertainly.
I had a grilling system, and at this point, I really couldn’t pause what I was doing unless I wanted to mess everything up, so I simply said, “Try facing her out with her back to your chest. If she’s not eating, she likes to sit up and look around to see what’s going on.”
After stirring the coals and getting them red and angry, I set the grate in place and fetched the wood chips.
On the bench, Gracen attempted my suggestions, and soon Ava was calming down again.
“And if you give her something to chew on, she’ll be even happier,” I added as I fed the wood chips into the hot coals.
“Damn,” Gracen murmured a second later. “That actually worked.” He looked up at me with raised eyebrows. “You’re like a baby whisperer.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “No. I’ve just been around her enough to know what she does and doesn’t like.” Then I added the steaks to the grill and started the timer after closing the lid.
“I guess.” Whistling as if impressed, Gracen watched me work for a moment before asking, “So how is everything going here? You and Luce getting on okay?”
Not sure what he’d heard, I sliced him with a suspicious glance. “What do you mean?”
“You know…” He rolled his hand, trying to get me to follow his thought process. “There was an adjustment period when Yellow and I first moved in together. She liked to spread her makeup across the entire countertop in the backroom, and I always put my milk up in the wrong spot in the refrigerator.” Rolling his eyes, he asked, “Did you know there was a certain place in the fridge for milk?”
“Yes,” I said. Who didn’t know that? Then I had to add, “But Lucy and I aren’t living together. She’s just my landlady.”
At that moment, the back door came open, and Lucy lumbered out, her arms filled with a laundry basket and the folded playpen strapped over her shoulder in its carrying tote.
“Your shirts just finished drying, so I folded them for you,” she started, carrying them toward the table.
Gray lifted his brows meaningfully at me, so I mouthed shut up at him and hurried to take the basket from Lucy. “Thanks. But you didn’t have to do that.”
“It was no problem.” She swiped a piece of hair out of her face and smiled at me before noticing our company. “Oh! Hey, Gray!” Blinking at him in surprise, she blurted, “What’re you doing here? And holding my baby? I don’t think I’ve actually seen you hold a baby before.”
“Right?” he said, nodding as if proud of himself. “I’m crushing this. But yeah, I figured I better get some practice in because Yellow’s already been tossing out some hints about adding to our household,” he explained as if it’d been his idea to hold Ava the whole time.
I rolled my eyes at him over Lucy’s shoulder as she gasped as she replied, “Yes! I can’t wait until you two have babies. I bet they’ll be beautiful.”
“Hell, yes, they will,” Gracen bragged while I reached for the playpen strapped to Lucy’s back.
“Here,” I murmured, “I got this.”
As I began to slip it off her shoulder, she looked up at me, saying a breathless, “Oh…” Our gazes met and held before I removed the strap and took on the full weight of the bag. “Thank you.”
I pulled out the pen, and together, Lucy and I worked to set it up. As soon as it was upright and fully expanded, I stood from where I’d been kneeling and dusted off my knees, only to spot Gracen behind Lucy’s back still sitting at the picnic table and flashing me the okay sign as he mouthed the word nice.
I would’ve flipped him off if Lucy hadn’t been facing my way. But I knew exactly what he was implying. Lucy and I looked like the typical married couple, setting up the playpen in the backyard together while we grilled steak for supper. I got it. Except that wasn’t what was happening here. I could never really be with her like that, and this playing like I was would probably just get me burned in the worst possible way.
But it wasn’t going to stop me from going closer and closer to the fire that was Lucy Gamble. I was well and truly addicted.
