AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rachel shuddered. “I just had the worst visual of what’s going to happen to my vagina.”
“You?” Mia demanded. “I have to go through it first.” She rubbed a hand across her round belly. “Have you seen Colt? He’s a beast. Kid’s gonna be like Godzilla.”
“Reap is not a small man either,” Rachel pointed out.
“None of them are,” Joni said.
The guys came around from the side of the house. Colt and Reap were carting a long folding table, and they set it up on the far edge of the patio. “Doc,” Boxer greeted, wrapping me in a bear hug from behind. “How long have you been here?”
I looked up at him and smiled. “A few minutes.”
He kissed me on the lips, and I thought for a moment about being embarrassed, but these people had already witnessed Boxer pulling me away from a party and disappearing for hours.
There was no point being self-conscious, and I chose to ignore the stares in our direction.
“Are you guys done doing manly things in the garage?” Joni asked Zip.
“Yeah, we’re done,” he said with a smirk. “Let’s grill.”
The guys wandered over to the barbecue and bar area, but Boxer remained. “Aren’t you going to join your male brethren?” I asked him.
“Nah. I’d rather stay here and listen to girl talk. You were about to discuss me, weren’t you?” Boxer flashed a teasing grin.
I looked up at him. “How am I supposed to exaggerate your manly attributes if you’re sitting right here?”
“She’s kidding about the exaggeration. I need no exaggeration. Joni can vouch for that, can’t you?”
Boxer winked at Joni who then slugged him in his upper arm. “Ow.”
“That didn’t hurt,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“Yeah. You’re right. It didn’t hurt.” His smile was strained, and I realized she’d punched him in his injured arm.
She didn’t know he’d been shot.
A heaviness settled over my heart. I didn’t like the secrecy, but it wasn’t my choice about what to share with the Old Ladies.
Joni rose from her seat. “I need some help grabbing the burgers and hot dogs.”
“I’ll help,” I volunteered immediately.
“Me too,” Darcy said.
I hopped up, but before I could follow Darcy and Joni into the house, Boxer’s arms went around me, and he pulled me flush to his chest. We met each other’s gaze, and something passed between us in that moment. He raised his brows, and I shrugged. Now was not the time or the place to have it out about my feelings on how the Blue Angels ran their club or handled the flow of information to the Old Ladies. And more importantly, it wasn’t the time to talk about how he’d steamrolled me and flat out told me I was going to have to live with it.
He ran a hand down the side of my face and pulled me closer for a quick kiss before releasing me.
On my way inside, I caught Mia’s snarky grin. I stuck my tongue out at her, causing her to laugh.
Joni was taking out platters of hamburger patties and hot dogs from the refrigerator and handing them off to Darcy who proceeded to remove the cling wrap. There were different types of salads, platters of fruit, and trays of baked goods.
“How many people are you expecting?” I asked in amazement.
“The Idaho boys are coming over a bit later, but they’re hanging with the younger Blue Angels—the ones that don’t have wives or girlfriends,” Joni explained. “The prospects aren’t allowed to come. They’re on clubhouse guard duty.”
I frowned. “Guard duty?”
“It’s not as sinister as it sounds,” Darcy assured me. “But we have to keep an eye on things. Be alert.”
