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I exchanged a grin with Darius. He had to be thinking the same thing. Those two, man.
“I miss when you called me sir,” Ryan sighed.
This was exactly what I needed tonight. It’d been a long fucking day, mostly good, but overwhelming, nonetheless. Now, though… I got comfortable between Joel and Emerson, drinks were handed out, cigars were lit, and lazy chuckles mingled with “remember when” anecdotes.
“Since this isn’t my first rodeo, I wanna give the new family members a heads-up,” Gray said, addressing Shay, Crew, Mercier, and Joel. “What we’re hearing now is clearly the call of memory lane—and it’s followed by favorite quotes from ancient generals and Murphy’s Law. That’s Darius’s field of expertise.”
I smiled into my whisky.
Darius looked mildly offended. “I say plenty of good shit that’s original Darius Quinn. I don’t need quotes.”
Gray offered a deadpan expression in return. “Baby, I asked you to make a welcome sign for our front door. You made one that says ‘If you want peace, prepare for war.’”
Where was the lie, though? It was a stellar saying.
Gray got the expected chuckles from Crew and Shay. As for the rest of us… He looked at us. “You’re all the same.”
“Do you take commissions?” Reese asked Darius. “Every time I try to make somethin’, it ends up bein’ another paddle.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Gray gave up.
I shook my head in amusement and took a puff from my cigar. River did not mess around when he bought cigars. The smoky oak from the whisky mixed perfectly with the heavy notes of pepper, leather, and molasses.
Tuning out the conversation for a beat, I pressed a kiss to Joel’s shoulder.
He tilted his head my way and gave me a sexy smile. He was feeling good. He was happy, and that made me—
Now what?
I dug out my phone and frowned. A message from Piper at this hour?
I opened it.
I’m so sorry for the pain I’ve caused.
I let out a breath and showed Joel the screen.
Did it matter in the end? I could admit, it felt good to have her acknowledge what she’d done. But…I don’t know. That level of deception had broken something fundamental. No matter how much we’d riled each other up as kids, we’d been there. We’d had each other’s backs—and that was ruined now. It wasn’t a white lie or even a…a… Whatever. She’d run with that bullshit foryears.
“It doesn’t change anything for me.” Joel took a sip of his rum. “I’ll play nice because she’s Blake’s mom, but she’s not the best friend I grew up with.”
That was essentially how I felt too.
“All right, everyone.” Coach evidently wanted our attention, and he even stood up. “I’d like to make the first toast for the evening. To Hillcroft’s newest addition—Shay Tenley.”
What the…?
“For noncombat work only.” Reese rushed out the words faster than I could sayhell. “He won’t go near a single goddamn conflict area.”
“I’ve given you my word, man,” Coach reminded him. “Now, show some fuckin’ pride. He’s gonna make an excellent martial arts instructor.”
Hot damn, that was fantastic. A perfect way to channel the horrors he’d been through and put them to use.
“I’m prouder than a pride flag,” Reese replied defensively. “I’m just sayin’.”
“Well done, kid.” I raised my glass to Shay.
Shay smiled and took the congrats from everyone. “Thank you. It’s gonna be fun. I even got these two—” he jerked his thumb to River and Reese “—to agree to let me go through the recruitment process.”
