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“Maybe, but I like when you say it.”
“Put those away.” She points at my face.
“What?”
“That smile. The naked chest, the muscles, the baby girl. It’s too much.” She shakes her head, and my smile grows.
“Come sit with me.”
She moves to the chair next to mine. “Here.” I pat my lap.
“Nope. You’re going to give me that baby, so I can snuggle her.”
“Sit here and I’ll snuggle both of you.” She freezes and stares down at me.
“Alyssa!” Kennedy calls out. “Ramsey needs your help. My husband won’t let me intervene.” Kennedy points toward the pool where Rushton has Ramsey in his arms, running toward the water. They crash into the crystal blue, and both come up, spluttering and laughing.
“Oh, it’s on, Kincaid.” Alyssa tosses her towel onto the fence behind me and takes off toward the pool.
“No running!” Blakely calls out, making us all laugh.
I watch as Alyssa dives into the pool. She swims over to Rushton and jumps on his back, trying to dunk him. Ramsey tries to help her, but they’re no match for him.
“Piper!” Alyssa calls out. “Get your pregnant ass in here. We need backup.” Heath tosses his head back in laughter as Piper strips off her shorts and hands them to him before she leisurely steps into the pool. Piper stays back and laughs as Ramsey and Alyssa manage to take him down. And so it goes. They all play and goof off in the pool, and I’m content to sit here holding my baby niece and watch them.
No one tries to steal Remi from me, and part of me thinks they know I need her in my arms. If I wasn’t cradling her, my hands would be holding Alyssa, and we’re not there. Fuck me, I want us to be there, but we’re just not. That’s on me. I need to work this shit out in my head. With each passing day, it’s harder and harder to hide how I’m feeling. I thought the “take things slow” advice was a good angle, but now I’m not so sure. Maybe going all in and not wasting any more time is the better option.
“Hell yes!” Ryder shouts. He lifts Jordyn into the air and spins her around. When they stop spinning, he kisses her hard.
“Remi? Is Uncle Ryder proposing, and no one told me?” I ask my niece.
“What’s going on?” Maverick calls out. “Should I give Jordyn a hug and a kiss too?” he jokes.
“We do everything together,” Merrick pipes up. “So count me in for a hug and a kiss too.” He winks at Jordyn.
I can’t hear Ryder, but I imagine he’s telling her to ignore his idiot brothers. “Jordyn just got the call she’s been waiting for. We might be here celebrating the Fourth of July, but my girl has something else to celebrate.” His smile is bright and infectious. I find myself leaning forward a little to make sure I don’t miss the announcement. “She got it! Jordyn got the Paris internship.”
Everyone cheers and calls out their congratulations. Maverick and Merrick both pick her up, spin her around, and kiss her cheek. Ryder just smiles. He knows they’re not trying to take his girl. They’re accepting her into our family. Besides, we all like to give each other shit.
Jade and Kennedy pull Jordyn to them. I can only imagine they’re asking her about her internship. I don’t know much about it, just what Alyssa told me. It’s in Paris, and if I remember right, she’s going to be gone for a while. Ryder is a lineman. He works for the local power company. I assume they need linemen in Paris too. I don’t know if that’s something that he’s considered or not. They’re going to have a lot to talk about, that’s for sure.
Selfishly, I don’t want my little brother to move to Paris, but if that were Alyssa, I would follow her there. Hell, I was a moody asshole when she was spending time with her parents and told me she’d just meet me here. I can’t imagine her living in a different country.
There’s your answer, asshole.
“Hand her over,” Orrin says, taking the seat next to mine. “I need practice.”
“We got plenty of practice with Blakely,” I remind him.
“Yeah, but that was forever ago. Come on, let me hold her.”
“Nope. Brooks said I was the only one allowed to hold her.”
“Right,” he scoffs. “Palmer! Sterling won’t let me hold the baby,” he calls out. My family cracks up laughing, because we may be adults, some of us married with kids, but we will always be the little boys who grew up together. We will never grow out of that, no matter how old we are.
“Sterling,” Palmer calls back. “Play nice.”
“Yeah, Sterling,” Ramsey chimes in.
