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“Right,” I murmured. “Makes sense.”
Only it didn’t. Not to someone who’d never had to think about things likeguard duty.
After Boxer getting shot, things like that shouldn’t have surprised me, but I wasn’t there yet.
“So…” Joni handed me a condiment caddy. “You and Boxer...”
“Me and Boxer what?” I prodded.
“You and Boxer were getting handsy in public, weren’t you?” Joni asked.
“I—er—um—”
Darcy cackled. “Oh, I love this. I love thissomuch. But now is not the time for this. I want no interruptions from children or a man walking in on our girl talk. Plus, I want wine while I listen to all the juicy details.”
My cheeks flamed. Though I was glad to be included in girl talk, and about to be subjected to their curiosity, I was in no way planning on kissing and telling.
“You’re terrible, Darce,” Joni said with a laugh.
“Me? You’re the one that brought up the two of them getting handsy. I so need the dirt!”
“Why? It’s not like you have to live vicariously,” Joni pointed out. “Gray still looks at you like you’re a steak dinner.”
Darcy beamed. “He does, doesn’t he? Still, it’s fun to hear about the start of something when its new and exciting. Gray still excites me, but after years together and two children, it’s just not the same.”
Joni sighed dreamily. “I can’t wait for all the phases I’ll have with Zip. But right now, I’m enjoying the newly married phase.”
We headed out back to the patio, carting platters and bowls and putting them onto the table. The grill was heating up and like most parties, the guys congregated in one area and the women in another.
A lanky boy sat next to Mia, and she absently brushed his dark hair away from his forehead. She looked at him with love and adoration. Because he was a kid, and a boy no less, he immediately ran his own hand through his hair to make it flop forward again.
“Can I have a cookie?” he asked.
“Just one,” she said. “I don’t want you spoiling your dinner.”
“Mama!” A little blonde girl yelled as she dropped her bean bag and ran to Darcy, wrapping her arms around her mother’s legs. “If Silas can have a cookie, can I have one?”
“Me too?” her brother asked, following at a slower pace.
“Sorry,” Mia said to Darcy.
“You guys can split one,” Darcy said to her children.
“That’s not fair,” Cam whined. “Silas gets his own cookie.”
“Silas is not my child. You are. It’s half a cookie or no cookie at all,” Darcy said in a firm tone.
Silas shot up from the couch and raced to the table, Cam and Lily not far behind him.
“He’s tall,” I said to Mia.
She sighed with maternal pride. “And getting taller every day. Smart as a whip too.”
Baby Tank started to cry, and Allison got up from her seat with a sigh. “I just got comfortable.”
“I’ll change him,” Torque voiced, coming to his wife and son.
“No, he needs to be fed, too,” Allison said. “I can change him.”
