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“I told you guys you could fly in for it,” my husband muttered.
Jason laughed and shook his head. “Only four hours before you were getting hitched.”
“It’s not my fault you didn’t drop everything so you could make it out to LA in time.” Jeremy pushed away from the table to get up and come over to my side.
Jason’s brows drew together. “If not yours, then whose fault would it be?”
“Quit complaining.” Jeremy wrapped his arm around my back and pulled me against his side. “At least you got to watch the ceremony from your phone.”
“Or if you’re going to complain, do it about the fact that we’re supposed to be playing poker, not gossiping about your relationships,” Tate griped, heaving a deep sigh as he got up to walk over to the fridge and grab a beer.
Jeremy gave me a squeeze. “Sorry, baby. They’re usually better behaved than this.”
“Don’t believe a word he says. He’s just trying not to scare you off,” Samantha warned. “I’ve been around my brother and Jeremy plenty of times, and they’ve always bickered like this.”
“Bickered?” James echoed, nipping at her neck. “You’re making us sound like an old married couple instead of the manly men we are.”
“Remind me again why I let my sister work for me?” Landon scrubbed his palm down his face. “Especially now when I have to watch them do shit like that, knowing I’m the one who sent her into the lion’s den.”
“Did you hear that, baby? Your brother called me a lion,” James teased, making a low roar sound that made Landon cringe.
Moving closer to Jeremy, I twined my arms around his neck and smiled up at him. “We should bring my grandfather to the next poker night. He’ll fit right in with all the bickering.”
Jeremy nodded and brushed his lips against mine. “Great idea, baby. I can see him running the table and taking all of our money, too.”
Tate heaved a deep sigh. “As long as he actually plays the hand he’s dealt instead of leaving his cards on the table and forgetting all about the game, he sounds like a perfect addition to me.”
James pointed at Tate. “That’s assuming I bring you along next time after all the complaining you’ve done tonight. I thought hockey players were supposed to be stoic and shit.”
“Nah, you’re thinking of football players like the one my sister recently married.” Tate shook his head with a sigh. “Then again, he’d fit right in with the bunch of you. Not only is he totally gaga over Talia, but he also let her think their relationship was fake when they were first starting out.”
“Sounds like he’s our kind of guy,” Landon agreed.
“Maybe I should invite him to the game next month instead of Tate,” James joked.
“No way are you tearing him away from Talia’s side, and they’re all the way out in New York anyway,” Tate pointed out.
Jeremy shrugged. “We came in from LA for the weekend.”
“Exactly, we can bring in whoever the fuck we want. That’s what private jets are for,” Jason pointed out. “I’ll send mine for your brother-in-law and sister, and Jeremy and McKenna can bring her grandfather with them on theirs.”
I thought Jeremy’s brother had been joking, but that was exactly what happened at the next poker game. My grandfather fit in with the guys just as well as I expected, and Jeremy gave Tate something else to complain about since he hovered over me the entire time because I was pregnant.
EPILOGUE
JEREMY
Yep. My wife was fucking amazing.
I looked around the gallery, and my chest puffed with pride. Several months ago, we’d been down at the beach behind our house—we’d moved in to the house with her grandfather the year after we were married. He’d grumbled about needing his own space, but we shut that down fast.
Corbin wasn’t on death’s doorstep, but we wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. Plus, Julia, our three-year-old daughter, and Justice, our two-year-old son, loved having him around every day.
It had been a gorgeous day, and we’d been laughing and running in and out of the waves.
McKenna had been inspired, and that night, after the kids were in bed, she disappeared into her studio. I’d renovated the tiny beach house in the back so she wouldn’t have to go all the way to her gallery when inspiration struck.
The next morning, she showed me the painting she’d spent all night working on. It was breathtaking. She’d captured one of the moments when our children had been running along the waves. The view was from behind, but somehow, she managed to make it clear they were laughing and filled with complete joy. The landscape looked so real that I felt like I would feel the warmth of the sun, the sand, and the water if I touched it.
